Trials and Tribulations
by Agent O'Brian
Summary: JackChloe. Followup to Eternal Bonds. Chloe and Jack face their greatest challenge: parenthood. Chapter 36 now up.
1. Getting help

Disclaimer: I don't own 24, or its characters.

Trials and Tribulations

Chapter 1

The loud crying coming from the hall woke both Chloe and Jack from their slumber, and both looked at each other wearily. "Come on" Chloe said grumpily. "Let's go see what they need." She got dressed and slowly moved down the hall to the babies' room, and was instantly greeted by 3 bawling infants._ Okay, which one first? _She picked up Teri, and held her. "What's wrong, sweetheart? You hungry?" Chloe checked her diaper, and saw it was clean. "Come on, go back to sleep, honey." She lowered her robe to allow her to feed, rocking her daughter gently, humming to her softly.

Chloe looked over at her husband, who was changing David, comforting him. _He's been so good with them. I don't think I could have done this without him. _"That's my little man. Go back to sleep" Jack said quietly, putting David back in his crib. He ran his fingers through his hair, then turned to Edgar, who was fussing. "I think he's hungry."

"I'll take him." Chloe handed Teri to Jack and picked Edgar up, feeding him as well, while Jack set Teri down to sleep. Chloe yawned and Jack went over to her. "Thanks, Jack."

"What are you thanking me for? We're in this together, Chloe- the good and the bad."

"Right." Edgar soon hiccuped and Chloe set him down, sighing with relief as all 3 were now fast asleep. "Come on, Jack. Let's go back to sleep, while we still can."

"Sounds like a plan" he replied, leading Chloe down the hall and back into bed.

"I cannot wait until they sleep through the night" Chloe said wearily, turning to her husband. "Look, Jack, I know we said we'd try to do this on our own, but I think it's time we got some help, at least for a while. I love these children dearly, but with 3 of them, it's too much for us."

"Actually, I was thinking the same thing" Jack told her. "I thought it was hard enough with one child, but 3 at the same time? We'll start looking for a nanny tomorrow. I don't care what it costs."

"Good. Now, let's get some sleep."

2424242424

"Well, that went well" Chloe grumbled, tossing yet another rejected nanny application onto the large stack of applications.

"She was perfect, Chloe. Why'd you say no?"

"Oh, come on, Jack. She was flirting with you the entire time."

"She was not" Jack said hotly. "Come on, Chloe. Are you going to do that to every woman that we get a look at?"

"No. Just the ones who can't understand that you're off-limits."

"Chloe, are you jealous?"

She scoffed. "Of her? Hardly."

Jack looked at intently. "Then what's the problem?"

Chloe shook her head. "There's not a problem, Jack."

"Chloe... please. If something's bothering you, tell me."

Chloe looked down. "I guess... I still get insecure at times. Old habits and all that. All those years I spent being in love with you, and watching you hook up with other women, believing you didn't care about me, that kind of stuff doesn't just go away, Jack."

Jack lifted his wife's chin. "Chloe, listen to me. I love you more than anything. I would never, ever, betray the vows we took. Even if we weren't married, I'd feel the same way. You are the only one for me."

Chloe looked into his eyes and saw the sincerity in them. "I'm sorry, Jack. I didn't mean to make you think I didn't trust you, because I do."

"I know you do." He smiled and embraced Chloe. "Look, I'm sure we'll find someone that we both like. We just have to keep looking." He looked at his watch. "I'm going to go take a nap. The kids are asleep, so you shouldn't have any problems."

"All right." Jack went upstairs, and Chloe picked up the phone, waiting patiently for a response."

"Yeah?"

"Hey, Ty. It's Chloe."

"Hey, Chlo. What's up?"

"Not Jack" Chloe replied. "He's sleeping. So are the kids."

"So, how's the search going?" Tyler asked.

Chloe scowled. "Not well. Not one person we've looked at has been good enough for either me or Jack. It's so frustrating. All we want is what's best for these children, and we haven't found it yet."

"Well, if all else fails, Chase and I can watch them for a while if you really need some help."

"Thanks, Tyler, but I can't. We need someone that can be available 24 hours a day, and you two can't. Besides, you've already done so much for me, and I don't want to add to the debt I owe you."

Tyler sighed. "Chloe, how many times do I have to tell you? You don't owe me anything. You being able to walk again, and live your life, is all the payment I want. Now let's just drop it, all right? Please?"

"...Fine."

"Thanks." Tyler grinned. "I may have a solution to your problem."

"Really? What is it?"

"I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and he told me he had moved to LA. He might be what you're looking for."

Chloe was skeptical. "How do you know this guy?"

"We worked together in the CIA. He was always talking about how much he loved kids."

"I don't know about this, Ty."

"Look, Chlo, all I'm asking is that you give him a chance" Tyler replied. "He's a good man. You know I would never put my niece and nephews in danger. I'll give you his number, and you and Jack can talk to him. Can you do that for me?"

_I guess it couldn't hurt to at least give this guy a chance. And Tyler's done so much for me. _"All right, Ty. Give me his number."

2424242424

The ringing of the doorbell caused Chloe to look up from her computer. "I'll get it, Jack."

"All right." Chloe slowly got up and walked to the door, opening it to reveal a tall, slender man. "Hi."

"Is this the Bauer residence?"

"Yeah, it is."

He stuck out his hand. "Hi, I'm Brian. You called me the other day about looking for a nanny?"

Chloe shook his hand. "Oh, yeah. Come on in." She lead him into the living room. "Jack! He's here!"

Jack came down the stairs quickly. Brian greeted him with an firm shake of the hand. "Hello, sir."

"Hello. Why don't you sit down?"

The three of them sat, and Jack looked at him intently. Chloe shot a look at her husband, then turned to Brian. He shifted a bit under their gazes, but was otherwise unfazed. "Look, Mr. Bauer, Ms. O'Brian, I'm going to save all of us a lot of time and just get right to it. You want to know if I can handle 3 kids, right? Well, I can assure you that I am more than up to the task." He handed them some papers. "Here are my references."

Jack was taken aback by his straightforward manner, but recovered his composure, and glanced at the information Brian had given him. _Well, so far, this guy seems like he's on the level._ "Would you excuse us for a minute?" Brian nodded, and Jack led Chloe into the kitchen. "What do you think, Chloe?"

"I like him, Jack. And the background check I ran on him came up clean."

"You ran a background check?"

Chloe gave him a glare. "Of course I did. You think I'd run even the slightest risk of putting our children in danger? I checked everything- even the stuff that doesn't normally come up. Everything on there told me he was legit. The only question is: will he be good with the kids?" She grimaced suddenly and grabbed the closest chair, sitting down quickly.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. They just hurt. Ever since the kids were born, they've been hurting more." On Jack's concerned look, she scowled. "Jack, I'm fine. I can deal with a little pain."

_She's not fine. They're bothering her more than she lets on. But now's not the time for that. _"All right. You stay here. I'll go tell him he's got the job." Jack walked back into the living room, and Brian stood up to meet him. "Well, it looks like you've got the job. When can you start?"

Brian stopped and thought for a moment. "I can be ready to start in 3 days."

"Good." Jack smiled and shook his hand firmly. "Welcome to the family."


	2. Problems

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 2

_Three months later..._

Chloe snapped open her eyes as the harsh wailing of her children woke her from her peaceful slumber. _Not again. _She looked over at Jack, who hadn't woken up at all. _How does he do that?_

Groaning, she threw on her robe and slowly got out of bed, walking gingerly down the hall to the babies' room. She stopped as she saw Brian holding Edgar carefully, feeding him his bottle and singing to him quietly. Chloe remained where she was, watching him tend to each child in turn. _He's been such a blessing. That's another thing I owe Tyler for. _She walked in the room, causing Brian to turn around hastily. "Did I wake you up?" he asked nervously.

"No, Brian, you didn't. I just heard the kids crying, so I went to check on them. Thanks for getting them back to sleep."

"Hey, that's what you pay me for, right?" he said with a smile.

"Right." She sat down, rubbing her sore legs absently. "Listen, I just wanted to tell you how grateful Jack and I are for all you've done. You've been so good with the kids, and helping us around the house. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Ms. O'Brian."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Brian, I told you, you can call me Chloe. This Ms. O'Brian stuff makes me feel like I'm back at CTU."

He looked down. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." She tried to stand up, but found her legs unresponsive. "Dammit. I can't move."

Brian rushed to her side. "What's wrong?"

"It's my legs. They're not working right now. This happens sometimes late at night." She sighed. "It's just something I've gotten used to."

"What happened?" he asked.

Chloe hesitated, but decided to tell him the truth. "I was kidnapped about 5 years ago. While I was being held in prison, my legs were shattered by a sledgehammer. It took a year of therapy for me to be able to even walk again, and they still give me problems. That's why some days I spend all my time in my wheelchair."

Brian put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Chloe. I didn't mean to pry. And I won't say a word." He looked at her. "Does... Jack know?"

"Yeah, Jack knows. He's the one who rescued me, along with Tyler and Chase. I owe all of them my life." She glanced at the time. "Too late to go back to bed. I know it gets boring late at night, so you want some company? At least until Jack gets up?"

"All right" he replied. "We haven't really had much of a chance to get to know each other, with the kids and all, so... how did you and Jack meet?"

Chloe smiled. "I've known him for about 11 years now. We both worked for CTU- he worked here in LA, and I worked in DC. I was transferred to LA after a... screw-up. Long story. Jack was my boss at first, and he and I didn't always get along. I was a total pain in the ass back then, and it's a wonder anyone could stand me. He wasn't much better. But after we both got entangled in some serious business, we became friends, and we began to trust each other. Then I got kidnapped, and Jack rescued me. While I recovered from that, he told me that he loved me, and I said I loved him, too. He surprised me one day by asking me to marry him, and here we are." She shook her head. "We've both been through a lot, most of which I can't talk about, but all the trials we've suffered have been worth it, because they brought us together." Chloe cracked her neck, shaking off the stiffness. "What about you? You got any family?"

Brian shook his head. "No, not really. My parents are dead, and my brother lives in New York. We don't really talk. We don't hate each other, but we've grown apart. He's got his life, and I've got mine. I've gotten used to being alone. No girlfriends, either, at least not serious ones. Besides, you know what it's like working for the government. Having a relationship has always been at the bottom of my priorities." He looked at Chloe seriously. "I'm happy with my life, though- you and Jack have accepted me into your home, and you trust me to take care of your children. That's all I can ask for, really."

Chloe smiled. "Well, if you ever need anything from either of us, don't hesitate to ask." She stifled a yawn, then looked up as Jack came walking in, half asleep, his eyes falling on Chloe. "I thought you'd be in here, sweetheart. I woke up and you were gone. Are you all right?"

"I'm sorry, Jack, but I heard the kids crying, and I went to check on them. Everything's fine, except I can't move."

"Are you coming back to bed? Do you want me to bring you your chair?"

Chloe shook her head. "No, I'm going to stay up. But you can bring me my chair."

"All right." He left, and Chloe turned back to Brian, who was looking at the triplets. He turned back to Chloe. "Listen, Chloe, I was wondering- I know I've only been here for a few months, but- would it be all right if I took a couple weeks off in a few months, and go to London? I've got a friend that lives there, and he wants me to come visit."

"Of course" Chloe said quickly. "All you had to do was ask. You take some time, and go live your life for a while. We'll be fine."

Brian grinned. "Thanks, Chloe."

Chloe leaned back as she and Brian began talking about their lives, grinning. I think I've found another friend.

2424242424

"What do you mean, you can't make it?" Chloe spoke into the phone harshly, her expression dark.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. My father's sick, and he needs me."

"Well, that's just great" she snapped, hanging up. "Jack, we have a problem. The sitter called off."

"What?" Jack barked.

"Yeah, and as much as I was not looking forward to today, I know how important it is. It's all right, though. We'll just do this another day."

"I wish" he replied. "Unfortunately, today is the only day they have available to do this. All the other days are tied up."

"Well, who's going to watch the kids? Brian's in London, and Tyler and Chase are in Rome."

"What about Morris? Is he available?"

Chloe shook her head. "I asked him the other day, and he said he was tied up with work for the next few days." She stopped as a thought came to her. "Hang on. I've got an idea."

"What are you going to do?"

"You'll see." Chloe left the living room, heading into her study, the one room in the house she and Jack both agreed was hers alone. She pulled out her cell phone and made a call. _Please say yes._

"Hello?"

"Hey, Connor, it's Chloe."

"Chloe?" Connor sounded surprised. "This is a surprise."

"I know." She paused. "Listen, Connor, I need your help."

"What kind of help?"

"Jack and I have some business to take care of tonight, and we can't take the kids along with us. The sitter called off a few minutes ago, and all our friends are out of town. Could you come over and watch them for a few hours?"

Connor frowned. "You want me to watch your children?"

"Just for a few hours." Chloe sighed. "Please, Connor. I don't know who else I can ask to do this." She waited patiently as Connor said nothing for a few minutes. _Come on, Connor, please._

"All right, Chloe. I'll do it. I'll be there in 20 minutes."

Chloe sighed in relief. "Thank you, Connor. I'll see you then." She said her goodbyes, then hung up, and went back into the living room. "I found a sitter."

"Who?"

"Connor. He agreed to watch the kids while we were gone."

Jack looked surprised. "I thought you and he weren't getting along that well."

"I never said that, Jack. It's only been a year. We're still trying to figure each other out. But that doesn't matter. He's going to be here in 20 minutes."

"All right, Chloe. Since we don't have any other choice, I'll go along with this."

She looked at him in relief. "Thanks, Jack."

2424242424

The ringing of the doorbell caused Chloe to jump. She quickly walked over and opened it to see Connor standing outside, looking nervous. "Hi, Connor. Come on in."

Connor followed her into the living room and looked around. "Nice place."

"Thanks." She looked up to see Jack walking in. He was drying his hands. "The kids have been taken care of."

"Good." She turned back to Connor, handing him a piece of paper. "You have my cell number, but here's the number for where we're going if you can't reach me. All our contact numbers are on there as well. There's food in the refrigerator if you get hungry later. Help yourself." She lead her son to the babies' room, and Connor stopped as he saw the children sleeping peacefully. He slowly walked over to the cribs, his eyes on them. "They're beautiful, Chloe" he said, smiling at the infants.

Chloe was stunned for a second, but quickly shook it off. "Thank you" she said quietly. "If you have any problems, please, don't hesitate to call me or Jack."

"I will. You two go on. I'll take good care of them, Chloe."

"Thank you, Connor. Thanks for doing this. I owe you big time."

"You're welcome" he replied, looking up at his mother briefly, then turning back to watch his siblings. Chloe decided to leave them, and rejoined Jack. "Come on, Jack. Let's get this over with."


	3. Catching up

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 3

"Are you nervous, Chloe?" Jack asked as they pulled into the parking lot.

Chloe sighed. _God, he's good. _"Yeah, I am. It's been 5 years, Jack. Why do we have to do this now?"

"You know how this place works."

"Unfortunately, I do." She glanced over to the building. "Well, let's just get this done. I want to put this part of my life completely behind me."

"Sounds good to me." Jack led his wife through the parking lot and into the building, only to be stopped by security. "Names?" the surly faced guard asked. They gave their names and waited to be cleared. "Empty out your pockets." Both were searched thoroughly, then finally given visitor badges while the guard explained in great detail what parts of the building they would be granted access to. "The security's gotten better here" Chloe remarked.

Jack nodded. "About time, too." He followed the guards onto the main floor and stopped, looking around at the changes that had happened in the last few years. He glanced over at Chloe, who was looking up at the director's office, scowling furiously. Jack followed her gaze and stopped as he saw Erin Driscoll staring back at them. What is she doing here? He reached for his wife's hand, rubbing it reassuringly. Chloe gave him a brief smile, then turned as she heard someone call out Jack's name. Mike Doyle was heading in their direction. "Jack, Chloe. It's good to see you guys."

"Agent Doyle" Jack greeted him with a firm handshake.

"Please, call me Mike."

"All right, then."

"How have you guys been?" Doyle asked. "I heard about what happened to you, Chloe. Are you okay?"

Chloe looked at him. "As good as I can be, Mike."

"Good." He looked around ruefully. "Nadia talks about you two all the time. She said one of her biggest regrets was letting you resign, Chloe. No one else we've gotten has been nearly as good as you guys were."

"Thanks." Chloe glanced back at the director's office. "Where is Nadia?"

"She's on leave. Pregnant again."

"Again?" Jack asked.

Doyle grinned. "You didn't hear? We got married 3 years ago. This is going to be our second child. Erin's running things here until she comes back."

"Congratulations, Mike."

"Thanks, Jack. It's all thanks to you. Until I met you, I didn't think I could do this job and have a relationship. But you convinced me to give it a try with Nadia after I got out of the hospital and got my sight back. She came to see me every chance she got, and things just took off from there." He looked serious. "Having something to fight for changed everything for me. I can do my job better now."

"Well, you deserve it, Mike." Chloe smiled, then frowned as two guards came up to them. Doyle scowled. "Business time. I'm sorry, guys, but you're going to have to wait in Holding. Erin's orders. And she wants to see you separately. You first, Jack. I'll take you to Holding, Chloe."

Chloe followed Doyle down the corridors and into a vacant Holding room. "If you need anything, ask the guard." He turned to the guard. "Make sure she's comfortable."

"Yes, sir." The guard watched Doyle leave, then turned to Chloe. "It's been a while, Chloe."

"Scott? Yeah, it certainly has. How've you been?"

"Okay, I guess. It's been quiet around here lately. We haven't been attacked since you left."

"Figures" Chloe scowled, then smiled. "You still going out with that girl you were always talking about? Emily?"

Scott put his head down. "No. She died a couple years ago. Plane crash."

Chloe cursed herself mentally. "I'm sorry, Scott. I didn't know."

"Don't worry about it." He walked over to her. "You know, Chloe, we heard about what happened to you." Chloe looked at him in surprise. "Yeah. Everyone was talking about it for a couple weeks. Most people were impressed that you withstood such brutality for so long. Some people, though, thought you had broken, and were just covering your ass. One in particular, oh, what was her name... Sarah Gavin, that's it. She spent her free time spreading nasty rumors about you. Agent Doyle finally found out about it and effectively squashed the rumor mill. She got called into Ms. Yassir's office and... you could hear the screaming all the way down in the bullpen. If there's one thing Ms. Yassir doesn't tolerate, it's gossip. Ms. Gavin got booted out the door."

"I'm not surprised. We never got along when we worked together before." Chloe leaned back in the chair. "So what else has been going on here?"

She and Scott spent the next hour making small talk, catching up on what had happened since Chloe had left CTU. She looked up to see Jack walking in, looking sour. "What's wrong, Jack? Things not go well?"

"You could say that" Jack growled, then sat down in the chair Chloe had vacated. "Your turn, Ms. O'Brian" Jack's guard said.

"Fine. Let's do this." Chloe gave her husband a quick kiss, then followed the guard out onto the floor and up to Driscoll's office. She hesitated before knocking. _Of all the people to deal with, why does it have to be her? Whatever. I just have to be civil with her until this is over, then I can go back to hating her in peace. _She knocked on the door, and Driscoll beckoned her in. "Hello, Chloe."

"Hello, Erin" Chloe replied. "You mind if I sit down?"

"Go right ahead."

Chloe sat down. "Let's just get this over with, all right, Erin? Being here is not pleasant for me, and I know it's not any more pleasant for you."

"Fine with me." Driscoll handed her some forms. "You can start with these."

Chloe glanced at the paperwork she had been given. "And this couldn't have been done over the phone?"

"No, it couldn't." Driscoll stared at the younger woman. "You haven't changed a bit, Chloe. You're still as hostile and arrogant as before."

"What?" Chloe snapped. "What are you talking about, Erin?"

"You always thought that the rules didn't apply to you, that you were smarter than the rest of us, and it seems that hasn't changed."

Chloe stood up hastily. "You know what, Erin? If you were expecting me to come in here today and bow down at your feet, you're sadly mistaken. Because I was right back then, when I helped Jack. From what I've heard, my actions helped save the Secretary of Defense and his daughter from being executed. And what did you do? Throw roadblocks in our way. You fired me, when I was the only one who was doing something useful to help save lives."

"You violated protocol, Chloe" Driscoll retorted. "Officially, you resigned. And you finally gave me the reason I needed to get rid of you."

"Sometimes you have to break a few protocols to get the job done, Erin. That's something I had to learn the hard way, and something you'll never understand. You're a bureaucrat, Erin, someone who sits behind a desk and has no idea of what it takes to keep this country safe. I was happy to walk away, knowing that I was free of you and your incompetent leadership. I only came back because I knew you were gone, and I wouldn't have to deal with you. Bill Buchanan was ten times the leader you'll ever be." She took a breath and sat down, grabbing a pen off the desk. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. Let's just do this." She began filling out the paperwork, slipping in snide comments every few minutes about the stupidity of what she was doing.

Driscoll sat back and observed the woman she had grown to hate. _Chloe's just as arrogant as before, but... something's changed. I can't put my finger on it, but she seems... more confident with herself. But that doesn't matter. Once she's done, I'll never see her again. _"I just want to know one thing, Chloe. How did they break you?"

Chloe froze as she was signing her name on one of the forms. She looked up to glare at Driscoll. "What?"

"When you were in prison. I read your debrief. There's no way you could have survived such brutal treatment and not broken. That would have been difficult enough for a field agent, someone who is trained to resist torture, but you weren't a field agent."

Chloe felt her blood boil. _She thinks I broke, too. Well, I'm not surprised. And I'm not going to give her the satisfaction of pissing me off. _"Listen, Erin, I don't give a damn whether or not you think I broke. Your opinion has never mattered to me. The only thing that matters is getting this paperwork processed so Jack and I can move on for good. So just shut up until I'm finished." She turned her attention back to her papers and filled out the last few forms quickly, sending them to be faxed. Driscoll received confirmation that the papers had been received and handed it to Chloe, who grabbed it, scowling. "Are we done here?" she asked quickly.

"Yes, we're done here. You two can go now. Agent Doyle will escort you out."

"Thanks" Chloe snapped, walking out of Driscoll's office quickly and meeting up with Doyle in the bullpen. She smiled briefly as she saw Jack walking in her direction a few minutes later. Jack embraced her, then took her hand as Doyle walked them out of the bullpen and out of the building.

"Goodbye, Mike" Jack said, shaking his hand firmly. Chloe did the same. "Good luck with her" she said.

"Thanks, Chloe." He looked back at the building, then turned to Jack. "Listen, if you two ever want to come visit, just let us know. I'm sure Nadia would like to see you guys." He quickly wrote a number down on a scrap of paper, handing it to Jack. "Here's our number."

"Thanks, Mike. And don't let this job ruin what you have with Nadia."

"I won't." Doyle sighed. "To be honest, I've been thinking about leaving for a while now. But I want to make sure this place is in good hands before I do."

"Don't wait too long" Chloe said. Doyle nodded, then looked at the time. "I have to get back to work, before Erin comes looking for me. Bye, guys." He walked back into the building, leaving Chloe and Jack alone.

"You ready?" Jack asked his wife.

"I'm more than ready, Jack. This part of our life is finally over. Let's go home. The kids are waiting."

2424242424

Jack pulled into the driveway, helping Chloe get out of the van and into the house. Chloe instantly left his side and went upstairs to check on her kids, stopping as she saw Connor standing at the table, changing Edgar, and setting him down gently. Chloe watched as he tended to all of the kids, giving each one attention. "Hi, Connor. We're back."

Connor turned around hastily. "Chloe. When did you get home?"

"A few minutes ago" she replied. "I was watching you just now. Thank you for watching them while we were gone, Connor. I owe you."

Connor smiled briefly. "You don't owe me a thing, Chloe. Getting to meet my brothers and sister is enough."

"How were they?" Chloe asked. "Did you have any problems?"

"Nope. They were perfect little angels." Connor stretched, working the kinks out of his neck expertly. "Well, since you guys are back, I guess I better go."

"You want to... stay for dinner?"

"No, I have some stuff I have to do. Maybe some other time?"

Chloe smiled. "Okay, then."

Connor turned to leave, but stopped. "Listen, Chloe. If you're ever in a pinch, and you need someone to watch your kids, call me."

"Thanks, Connor." Chloe walked him out and watched him leave._ I think things just got a little more complicated. But at least he wants to have a relationship with me. And that's all I can ask for._

"Chloe? Dinner's here. You coming to eat?" Jack called out from the kitchen. Chloe shook her head to clear it, then joined him in the kitchen, grinning as she saw her favorite food sitting on the table. "When did you call this in?"

"When we were at CTU, and you were with Erin. I knew she would give you a hard time, so I thought I should get you something you liked."

Chloe planted a firm kiss on his lips. "You always know how to brighten my day, Jack."

Jack smiled, then motioned to the table. "Let's eat before it gets cold."

Chloe sat down and quickly dug in. _How did I get so lucky? I'm finally free from the government for good, I have my son back in my life, and my family. Well, I'm not going to complain._


	4. Thought I was dead

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 4

Chloe smiled as she opened the door. "Ty! You're back."

"Hey, Chlo. It's good to see you" Tyler replied, walking in and hugging her sister firmly. Chloe pulled away when she saw Chase standing outside. "Get in here."

"Nice to see you too, Chloe" Chase said, ruffling her hair.

Chloe scowled at him, fixing her hair quickly, then smirked. "Jack's in the garage, if you're looking for him." Chase left to join Jack, leaving the sisters alone to catch up.

"Sit down, Ty. I'll get you a drink." Chloe went into the kitchen and grabbed a couple of beers, passing one off to Tyler, who took it, swallowing half the can in one shot.

"How was Rome?"

Tyler smirked. "Nice. We had a great time. It was great to go overseas on a pleasure trip for once. I hadn't left the country since I came back from Turkey. It's good to be home, though." She looked around. "Where are my niece and nephews?"

"Brian took them to the park for a few hours. He wanted to give us a break." Chloe shook her head. "He's been so great with them. I don't think Jack and I would have been able to get through these last few months without him helping us. And I owe it all to you, Tyler."

Tyler shrugged. "Hey, I just gave you his number. He had to do all the hard work. But I'm glad things worked out for you guys." She looked at her sister. "What else has been going on?"

"A lot of stuff" Chloe told her. "A few weeks ago, Jack and I got this notice from the government saying we were eligible for a pension, since we hadn't worked for them in a few years. We had to go back to CTU for a few hours and fill out the paperwork, and officially end our affiliation with the government." She shuddered at the thought of her former workplace. "Going back there wasn't pleasant, Tyler. That place has given us nothing but pain and misery. We've lost so many friends because of the work we did there. But we knew it was the best way for us to finally move on, so we agreed."

"When we got there, I found out that the woman who fired both me and Jack was the acting head of CTU, and we would be dealing with her. Needless to say, I wasn't happy with that, but it was only for a few hours, then I wouldn't have to see her ever again. She worked me over pretty well, Ty. She had heard about what I had been through, and she accused me of breaking. Before, I would have probably ended up in prison for assault, but this time, I didn't let her get to me." Chloe smirked. "I think that pissed her off. But I don't care anymore. We're free, Tyler. The government has no control over our lives anymore. They can't ever ask us to do anything for them again. We made sure of that. They give us our pension, and leave us alone."

"You're lucky, then" Tyler remarked. "I've known so many people I've worked with that get the run-around from the government when they try to get their pensions, or any kind of help. I never tried, because I didn't need it, but I've seen how frustrating it is dealing with them. They use us for years to do their dirty work, then when we want something from them, we get nothing but excuses. All our work gets thrown out the window." She scowled. "All right, enough bad thoughts. We're supposed to be enjoying our lives, so let's do that."

"Fine by me" Chloe replied. "When you were leaving, you mentioned something about trying to have kids. Have you had any luck with that?"

Tyler shook her head. "Not yet. But we're still trying. I want kids more than anything. What good is everything I've worked to gain, if I don't have someone to pass it onto when I die? Besides, if all else fails, we could always adopt a child."

"Whatever you decide to do, Tyler, you have my support 100."

"Thanks, Chlo." Tyler stood up, finishing off the last of her drink. "Come on, let's go join the guys, see what they're up to." She offered her sister a hand. Chloe took it slowly and began to stand up, but sat back down quickly, clutching her legs in pain. "No, not now" she gasped.

"Chloe, what's wrong?"

"I don't know" Chloe said, the pain she was feeling showing clearly on her face. "Ever since the kids were born, my legs have been hurting more. I thought it would go away, but it's only gotten worse." She reached into her purse and grabbed a couple of pills, swallowing them quickly. "Don't worry about me, Tyler. I'll be fine. I can handle some pain."

Tyler stared at Chloe in disbelief. "Chloe, a few seconds ago, you could barely move, so don't tell me you'll be fine. Have you talked to Jack about this?"

"No. We've got enough to worry about, with 3 children to take care of. My problems are the last thing he needs right now."

"Look, I know you pride yourself on being tough. It got you through hell. But you don't need to be tough anymore. What if this ends up being serious, and something bad happens to you? You need to think about your children, Chloe. How can you take care of them if you can't take care of yourself?"

Chloe glared at her sister furiously. "Are you calling me a bad mother, Tyler?"

Tyler quickly put her hands up. "No, of course not. I think you're a great mother. I'm just saying that you need to take care of yourself as well as your kids. Go get yourself checked out. Chase and I can help with the kids, if it means you get this sorted out."

Chloe put her head down. _She's right. What kind of example am I setting if I run myself ragged? Besides, I'm getting tired of the pain. _"You're right, Tyler. I should take better care of myself. I'll set up an appointment. But I want you and Jack with me. I'll see if Connor can watch the kids."

"Connor?" Tyler was skeptical. "You trust him?"

"Of course I do" Chloe said, looking at Tyler incredulously. "He's taken care of them before. That day Jack and I went to CTU, Brian was in London. The sitter flaked on me, so I called Connor, and asked him to watch the kids. He loves his brothers and sister. And he and Brian get along great. I trust him, Ty."

Tyler shrugged. "Well, if you trust him, then I guess I can, too."

Chloe managed a weak smile. "Thanks. Now bring me my chair, so we can go see the guys."

2424242424

Chloe sat on the table in the observation room, waiting for Dr. Ericsson to return. _I really hate being back here, but if it means I get rid of this pain, then it'll be worth it. _She looked up as he came in, looking grim. _Oh, dammit. I know that look all too well._

"Well, I've got good news, and I've got bad news for you, Chloe" he said. "The bone scan turned up multiple hairline fractures in your legs, most likely caused by a calcium deficiency. Your blood work showed abnormally low levels of iron, which is causing the nerves in your legs to weaken. Your body just isn't producing the nutrients you need. You'll need to take supplements of calcium and iron for the rest of your life. If you don't, it'll only get worse. You could end up paralyzed. For now, I want you to refrain from walking whenever possible. Your legs need time to heal."

Chloe looked down. _Dammit. I don't want to be stuck in that chair. I worked too hard for that. _"You said something about good news?"

"Yes. Other than the problem with your legs, you're perfectly healthy. Your cholesterol is good, your blood pressure is normal, and your weight is back to what it was. Just keep it up." He handed Chloe 2 pieces of paper. "These are for the supplements I told you about. I want to see you in 3 months to check on you. But you can go now." He walked out, leaving Chloe with her friends.

"Chloe, are you all right?" Jack asked.

Chloe shook her head. "Not really. But I guess it could have been worse." She allowed herself to be helped off the table and into her chair. "Let's go, guys."

Jack led the group out of the observation room and down the hall. They were passing by the ICU when Jack stopped. He saw Doyle walking past, not noticing where he was going. "Mike!" Jack called out.

Doyle stopped, grinning as he saw Jack, then headed in their direction. "Hey, Jack." He frowned as he saw Chloe in her chair. "What's wrong, Chloe? Are you okay?"

"No, but I will be." Chloe motioned behind her. "Mike, this is Tyler, my sister, and her husband Chase. Guys, this is Mike Doyle. We worked with him at CTU." She turned back to Doyle. "What are you doing here, Mike? Is Nadia okay?"

Doyle's smile returned. "Yeah, she's fine. The baby came yesterday. It's a son. We named him for you, Jack."

"I'm honored, Mike" Jack replied, clasping the younger man's hand.

"You want to see him? Just for a few minutes?"

"Of course. You want to, Chloe?"

"Actually, I'd like to see Nadia first. You guys go on ahead."

"She's in Room 538" Doyle responded, leading Jack and the others towards the newborn observation area. Chloe split off, heading towards Nadia's room, knocking on the door. "Mike, I told you you don't have to knock-" Nadia stopped as she looked up and saw Chloe. "Chloe?"

"Hello, Nadia. Can I come in?"

"Sure." Chloe entered the room, and stopped next to Nadia's bed. She looked around awkwardly.

"It's been a while, Chloe. How have you been?"

Chloe shrugged. "Considering everything that's happened to me, okay, I guess. What about you?"

Nadia smiled. "Things are going great. Did Mike tell you I had a child?"

"We ran into him a few minutes ago. He took Jack to see your son." She smirked. "I couldn't believe it when he told us you two had gotten together. It was so weird. But I guess a lot of people would say that about me and Jack." She looked down. "Look, Nadia, I just want to know one thing. Mike said you regretted letting me resign. Is that true?"

"Yeah, it is. Chloe, you weren't the easiest person to get along with. I can't count the number of times you managed to get to me. But when it came down to the work, you were better at your job than anyone I'd ever worked with. And more to the point, you took responsibility for your people. When they made a mistake, you always took the blame, even when it wasn't your fault. Most of the people there now are more interested in advancing their careers, or setting each other up, than they are in getting the job done." Nadia looked at Chloe seriously. "You know, Chloe, you could have asked me for anything you wanted, and I would have given it to you without a second thought, if it meant you stayed."

Chloe merely shook her head. "That stuff never really interested me. I never cared about getting more pay, or a better clearance. And I meant what I said. I was tired of seeing the people I cared about die because of that place. And it worked out for me, but not without a few struggles. Getting out of CTU was one of the best decisions I've ever made."

Nadia looked thoughtful. "I envy you, Chloe. You seem so sure of what you're doing. To be honest, I've been considering resigning myself, but I only want to if Mike will as well. I want to be there for my children. They deserve that much."

Chloe simply looked at Nadia. "I can't tell you what to do with your life, Nadia. But if you're serious about leaving CTU, then do it. Get out while you still can."

"I'll keep that in mind" she replied, reaching out to shake Chloe's hand. "It was nice seeing you again, Chloe."

"You too. Goodbye." Chloe left Nadia's room, meeting up with Jack outside the observation area, saying her goodbyes to Doyle, then following her friends out of the hospital and back home."

2424242424

Jack pulled into the driveway and sighed with nervousness. His stomach had been in knots the entire drive home, but he couldn't figure out why. _It's probably nothing. I'm just tired. _He led Chloe into the house, his nerves on edge as he found the house quiet. _That's unusual. Normally at this time, the kids would be making a ruckus. Maybe they're sleeping._ A sudden bang from the closet jerked him out of his thoughts. He rushed over and opened it to find Connor inside, bound and gagged. What the hell is going on? He quickly freed the younger man. "Connor, are you all right? What happened?"

Connor stood up, rubbing his wrists. "I don't know, Jack. One minute I'm in the kitchen, fixing a snack, and the next thing I know, I'm tied up in that closet." He looked around, then suddenly rushed upstairs. Jack followed him quickly, Chloe bringing up the rear, her chair proving to be a challenge.

Jack stopped outside the babies' room, seeing Brian lying on the floor, out cold. He caught the faint smell of chloroform and felt his heart stop briefly. His eyes flicked to the cribs, panic rising as they were empty. He slowly sank to the floor, not taking his eyes off the empty cribs.

Chloe soon entered the room, taking in the scene, then she collapsed on the floor, sobbing loudly. Chase, who had followed them in, rushed to her side, letting her cry on his shoulder. Tyler, however, quickly rushed out, searching the rest of the house, before coming back to the babies' room, her head hung low. "They're not here." She made a move to comfort her sister, but was stopped by her phone ringing. "Hello?"

"Hello, Tyler. Thought I was gone, didn't you?"


	5. Off the radar

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 5

Tyler stared at the phone in disbelief. _No way. _"Colby?"

The voice on the other end chuckled. "Ah, you still remember me."

Tyler glared angrily. "It's kind of hard to forget the man who sold me out, Colby. Now what the hell do you want? Did you have something to do with this?"

"You're still as perceptive as ever, Tyler." He paused briefly, then continued. "What I want is not important. I'm just following orders. I'm calling concerning your niece and nephews."

Tyler quickly put the phone on speaker. "I'm listening."

"I know you'll be tempted to do something reckless to save the kids, so I'd advise you to refrain from your impulsive tendencies for now."

"Colby, you son of a bitch, whatever problems you have with me, leave my family out of it."

"I can't do that, Tyler" he replied.

She glared. "How do I know they're even alive?"

"I'll send you proof." Tyler stared at her phone until she saw a message come across. She opened the file, and stared in horror as she saw her sister's children staring back at her. Tyler sank to the floor in disbelief.

"Now do you believe me?"

Tyler found her voice. "What do you want?"

"The children will be returned to their home unharmed. In exchange, you give me something. That something will be revealed in 2 days. Until then, just sit tight." He disconnected the call. Tyler clicked the phone shut, then turned to Chloe, who was still sobbing, Chase doing his best to console her. Jack had snapped out of his shock, and was trying to wake Brian up. "Brian, wake up." He grabbed a glass of water and flung it in the man's face, finally waking him up. "Jack. You're home" Brian said groggily, then looked past him, staring in horror as he saw the empty cribs. "Where are the kids?"

"I was hoping you could tell me" Jack said calmly. "They've been kidnapped."

Brian looked at his boss in shock. "Kidnapped?"

Jack merely looked at him. "Brian, what happened?"

"I don't know. Connor told me he was going to the kitchen to get something to eat. I heard a noise behind me a few minutes after that, and I assumed it was him. Then someone knocked me out." He looked down at the floor in disgrace. "I'm so sorry, Jack. I failed to protect the children. This is all my fault."

"Brian, this is not your fault" Jack replied. "We'll find them." _Or I'll die trying. _He stood up, and slowly walked over to his wife, who had managed to stop crying. "Chloe, I promise you. I will do anything I have to to find our children. The bastards responsible are going to pay. I'll make sure of that."

Chloe said nothing, giving no indication that she had heard him. _Dammit, she's shutting down. _Jack then turned to Tyler. "Tyler, what's going on?"

_Oh, crap. He's going to hate me._ "The man who just called... was my former partner, Colby Kessler. He's the one who sold me out in Turkey."

Brian looked up. "Colby's behind this?"

Tyler nodded. "He's responsible for kidnapping the kids." She put her head down. "Jack, forgive me. My past is coming back to haunt me, and your children are paying for it."

"Tyler, this isn't your fault. Kessler's the one to blame, not you." Jack lifted her head. "What happened between you two?"

Tyler merely looked away. "Colby was my partner for years, ever since I joined the CIA. I trusted him implicitly. He saved my life more than once. I would have died years ago if it wasn't for him. He taught me everything I knew about doing my job." She sighed loudly. "The man I thought I knew was a patriot, Jack. He was always talking about what an honor it was to serve his country, even if the work was unpleasant at times. Until we got back from Austria. I was busy dealing with my parents' death, not to mention my state of mind after Austria, so I didn't really pay too much attention to what was going on with Colby. After that, though, he seemed different. He rarely said a word, except to argue with me or anyone who pissed him off. He still did his job, but it was like... he had lost his faith in what he was doing. I tried to find out what was going on with him, but every time I asked, he gave me the brush-off."

"What happened in Austria?" Jack pressed her. Tyler didn't respond. "Tyler, please. My children have been kidnapped. Anything you could tell us about what happened with Kessler could help us find them."

She took a deep breath, then continued. "Colby was sent to infiltrate a terrorist cell in Berlin, and I was his outside contact. He had been with them for 3 months, when I lost contact with him. I spent about a month trying to find him, and reestablish contact. I finally caught up with him in Vienna. Apparently his cover had been blown. He was barely alive when I found him, Jack. I took him to a local hospital, then I went after the ones that had done that to him, tracking them down to a warehouse outside Vienna." She shook her head, tears clouding her eyes. "It was bad, Jack. Not one person in that building made it out alive. I killed them all for what they had done to Colby. One of them was an innocent woman. I killed her merely because she got in my way. I didn't want to, but it was either kill her, or die."

"After I took out the cell, Colby and I returned to the US. I was already on the edge of insanity after what I had done, and when I found out my parents had died, that blow sent me over the edge. I lost it. After I settled their affairs, I spent months wandering the country, trying to make sense of what happened. I was even considering suicide at one point. But I ran into Brian one day, and he helped me through everything. He helped give me back my will to live, my sense of duty. I went back to work."

"But everything had changed for me. I wanted out. The job had become a burden I no longer wished to carry. And it didn't help that Colby had changed as well. I should have known something was up, but I didn't. We worked a few more missions together, but it wasn't the same. I realized I couldn't depend on him the same way I had before." She stopped for a minute, gathered her thoughts, then continued. "I finally told the higher-ups I wanted to leave the agency. They were reluctant to let me go, but I made a deal with them: I would do one more mission for them, then I was out for good."

"Colby and I got sent to Ankara to gather intel on a resurgent terrorist cell. Things started out going well for us. But a month into the mission, our contacts began ending up dead. I kept trying to convince the higher-ups to extract us, but they refused. So I pressed on. Then, a couple months later, Colby told me to meet him one night. He said he had information that I needed to pass along. Unfortunately, it was a set-up. When I met with him, the Turkish secret police showed up and arrested me. The captain informed me that Colby had set up the meeting to get me arrested. He flipped on me, Jack. I asked Colby why he had sold me out, and he didn't answer. I was taken to prison, and I haven't seen him since. Today was the first time I'd spoken to him since that night. And now he's back. And your children are in his hands."

Tyler finished talking and looked down. "Jack, I'm so sorry."

"Tyler, stop. I told you this isn't your fault. Now we will find them."

"We only have 2 days, Jack. That's not a lot of time."

Jack said nothing, knowing Tyler was right. "We still have resources. We can use them." Turning to the empty cribs, he thought for a moment. "Tyler, Brian, can you two find a way into the CIA's database, and get any information on Kessler?"

"I'm just a field agent, Jack. I don't do computers" Tyler said hastily.

Brian shook his head. "I did do some computer work back when I was with them, but not at the level we'd need to get in and out undetected. If I tried, we'd have 50 agents here in no time." He motioned to Chloe. "Besides, she could do it."

Jack looked over at Chloe, who was sitting back in her chair, staring blankly into space. He walked over to her, and kneeled down, looking her in the eyes. "Chloe, sweetheart, please don't shut down on me. If we're going to find our children, I need your help now, more than ever."

Chloe stared at him for a few minutes, then looked down. "Okay. I'll do what I can."

"Maybe I can help." Jack looked up at Connor, who was standing back, looking nervously at the group. "I do freelance work with computers. I can get into almost any system you name without being detected. I'll help Chloe get in."

"Connor, you don't have to-"

Connor quickly cut him off. "My brothers and sister have been kidnapped, Jack. I want to find them. Don't tell me this isn't my problem."

Jack nodded. "All right, Connor. You two do what you can. I'll be right back." He left the room, heading to his study, then broke down, the tears he had been holding back coming out forcefully. For a few minutes, he cried, letting his grief out._ Why does this always happen to me? Just as we were getting on with our lives. Teri, David, Edgar, I will find you. Dad's coming. _He wiped his eyes, then pulled out his phone.

"Doyle."

"Mike, it's Jack" Jack managed to get out.

"Jack? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not."

"Did something happen to Chloe?" Doyle asked.

"No, she's okay, at least physically. Mike, our children have been kidnapped."

"What? When?"

Jack sighed. "Today. It must have happened when we were at the hospital." He put his hand on his forehead. "Mike, I need your help. The man who kidnapped him called us about 15 minutes ago. He told us that he would be calling again in 2 days to exchange our children for something in return."

"What did he say he wanted?"

"He didn't tell us. We need to find the kids before then. You still have access to CTU. Right now, I need that access."

Doyle nodded. "Of course I'll help, Jack. What do you need me to do?"

"Get Chloe whatever information CTU has on a man named Colby Kessler. He's a former CIA agent who flipped a few years ago. This has to stay completely off the radar. No one at CTU can know what you're doing, especially not Erin." Jack paused. "I know I'm asking a lot from you, Mike, but I trust you."

"I understand. I'll get back to you as soon as I can." Doyle hung up, and Jack put his head back for a few minutes, his mind fast at work on how to find his children.

2424242424

Doyle strode across the bullpen slowly, taking in each analyst carefully, judging which one would be able to help him with what he needed. _No. No. Definitely no. Not in a million years. Maybe. No. Ah! He's perfect... I hope. _He walked over to the main terminal where the current Head of Comm, Victor Lewis, sat, hard at work. _He's almost as good as Chloe is, but a little easier to deal with. And more to the point, he doesn't care for Erin that much. Chloe wouldn't have picked him to replace her if he wasn't good. _"Victor, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Victor looked up at Doyle. "Is this really important, Mike? Because I'm swamped with work right now."

"Victor, please. Come with me."

Victor stared at him for a minute, then got up and followed Doyle out of the bullpen and into the server room. After making sure they were alone, Doyle closed the door. "Victor, I need your help."

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to get some information for me on a former CIA agent named Colby Kessler. Everything you can find, especially all his contacts over the past few months."

Victor looked confused. "Why didn't you just ask me at my station? Why here?"

"Because you're the only one who can know anything about this. You have to keep this off the radar from everyone. And I mean everyone."

"What about Driscoll? Does she know anything about this?"

Doyle shook his head. "No, and it needs to stay that way, Victor. You can't tell Erin what you're doing."

Victor shifted a bit. "I don't know about this, Mike. If she found out what I was doing, we'd both be out of here."

"Victor, I wouldn't ask you to do this if it wasn't important. Lives depend on this." Doyle paused. "If she does find out, I'll take the heat."

"... All right, Mike. I'll do it."

"Thank you." Doyle let him go back to work, then headed up to his office to get back to work. _I hope this works._

2424242424

_2 days later..._

"Any luck yet, Chloe?" Jack asked his wife, who was busy trying to hack into a secured database.

Chloe didn't look at him, merely focusing on her system. "We're almost in. Just a few more minutes."

"We don't have a few minutes. We need that information."

Chloe turned and glared at him. "I'm doing the best I can here, Jack. And I could be doing a lot better if you weren't hanging over my shoulder bugging me."

Jack was taken aback by her harsh tone, and he stepped back hastily. Chloe instantly regretted her words. "I'm sorry, Jack. I didn't mean that. I'm just..." She looked down. "I'm scared, Jack. Our children have been kidnapped, and I can't find them." She felt tears stinging her eyes. "What if something happens to them? They're innocent."

Jack embraced her quietly. "Chloe, I'm scared, too. But we will find them. I need your help to do that, though."

She nodded, then turned away from her husband and got back to work.

"I think I've got something, Jack" Connor, who was working next to Chloe, said abruptly. Jack turned to him. "I just got in." He began typing furiously. "Here we go. It's a list of all the places Kessler was sighted at within the past couple of years." He scanned the list quickly. "This is a lot, Jack. It's going to take some time to go through."

Jack patted Connor on the shoulder. "Great work, Connor. We have something."

"There's something else here, too. It's a scrambled file. I'll have to clean it up."

"How long will that take?"

Connor glanced at the file. "It's huge. I'd say 24 hours at least."

"Dammit. All right. Let me know the second you do." He turned to Tyler, who was chewing on her nails, Chase right beside her. Tyler kept staring at her phone. "He's going to call any minute now, Jack." She looked at him. "Are you going to give him what he wants if you can't find him?"

"Yes" he replied. Both Chase and Tyler looked at him in surprise. "I'll do anything to get my children back safely. Any amount of money he wants, I'll give him."

Tyler opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by her phone ringing. She looked at the number. "It's him. I'll put it on speaker." She answered the phone. "What?"

"That was rude."

Tyler glared. "Bite me, Colby."

Colby chuckled. "Such hostility. Really, Tyler, I expected better from you."

"You kidnapped my sister's children, you scumbag."

"Oh, yes, that's why I called. I remember now. I have no intention of hurting the children- if you give me what I want."

"And what is it you want, Colby? Money?" Tyler spat out harshly.

"No, not money. I'm getting enough of that from this job. No, what I want- is your sister."


	6. Sacrifice

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 6

Tyler stared at the phone in disbelief. "What?!"

"You heard me" Colby replied. "It's been said that a mother will do anything to protect her children. I want to see just how true that is."

"Colby, you sick son of a bitch-"

"Ah, ah, ah. Before you say no, you might want to consider the children."

Tyler looked over at Chloe, who was merely staring at the floor. "Why do you want Chloe?"

"I told you that's not important. Besides, I'm just following orders. The less I know, the better I can do my job." He paused. "I will give her 10 minutes to decide, then I'll call back. If she refuses to be handed over to us, the children die." He hung up. Tyler looked at Jack. He was staring furiously back at her. "What are we going to do, Jack?"

"...I don't know."

"I do" Chloe said. Everyone turned to look at her. "I'll do it."

"No" Jack said forcefully. "Chloe, you are not giving yourself over to him."

"This isn't your choice, Jack. It's mine." She glared at him defiantly. "I need to speak with you. Alone." She wheeled herself out of the room and into their bedroom, Jack following right behind. He shut the door, then turned back to his wife. "Chloe, you are not doing this."

"We don't have a choice, Jack. Do you think I want to give myself up to him? No. But if it means saving the lives of my children, then I will do it."

"Chloe... please. I almost lost you twice. I couldn't bear losing you again."

Chloe refused to look at him. "Jack, listen to me. I've been through hell once. I can go through it again if it means my children get the chance to live their lives." She looked at her husband. "Jack, the last couple of years have been the happiest years of my life. I've been blessed with 3 wonderful children, my sister, my son, all the friends I've made... and you. I wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything. I love you." She pulled him in and kissed him. "Let me do this. At least you'll still have the children. That's my gift to you."

Jack stared at her for a few minutes, not saying anything, then finally nodded. "If you're sure, Chloe... then do it."

"Thank you, Jack." She wheeled herself back into the babies' room. "I've made my decision. I'll give myself up to Kessler."

Tyler began to speak, but was silenced by the phone ringing. She handed it to Chloe. "Hello?"

"Ah, Ms. O'Brian. Have you made your decision?"

"I have" she said quietly. "I'll give myself up to you. Just let my children go."

"Good. Here's how it's going to work- one of your children will be released to you. Once that happens, go to Largo Junction. When you have been secured there, the second of your children will be returned. After that, some men will pick you up. When you arrive at your new home, the last of your children will be brought home. Make any attempt to track my men, or plant any trackers on yourself, and your children die. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good." He hung up. Chloe handed the phone back to Tyler, then left the room to prepare. Jack didn't follow her. She needs to do this alone.

2424242424

Tyler knocked on the door to Chloe's room. "Come in." She opened the door and walked in. Chloe was sitting on the bed, looking sadly at a picture of her and Jack from their honeymoon. She had changed into a long sleeved shirt and black pants, a far cry from her normal attire. Chloe looked up at her sister. "Hey, Ty."

"Hey, Chlo. Can I sit down?"

Chloe shrugged, and Tyler sat down next to her. "Look, Tyler, if you've come to talk me out of this, then don't. I've made my decision."

Tyler quickly shook her head. "I haven't. I just wanted to tell you that Jack and I will be taking you to the junction. I thought you might want to see a familiar face before you... leave."

"Thank you, Tyler."

"Chloe... I promise you, I will do whatever I have to to find you, and get you back home. Connor is working up everything we found on Colby. He can't hide forever. And... if something does happen, if we can't find you, I will help take care of your children. I'll make sure they know all about you, and what a strong, courageous woman you are. You have my word, Chloe."

Chloe said nothing, but pulled her sister into a hug. The two sat embracing, until they were interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Tyler pulled away, leading Chloe down the stairs and to the front door. Jack came in and opened it. A woman wearing a mask was standing outside, holding David in her arms. She thrust the child at Jack, who took him gingerly.

"I have instructions to give you" she said quietly. Jack glared at her. "You are to be at the junction in one hour. Find a stand with a yellow mark on it and leave O'Brian there. Once she's alone, your daughter will be brought here. If you aren't there in an hour, she dies." Without waiting for a reply, she left.

Chloe turned her eyes to her son. Jack passed David off to her, and she held him gently, fighting off the tears. _At least I get to see one of my children before I go._ "Goodbye, my son. I love you." She handed David to Brian, then took one final look at her home, before wheeling herself to the car and getting in. Jack and Tyler followed, and Jack fired up the engine. They drove in silence, all 3 lost in thought.

Jack pulled into the junction 50 minutes later and helped Chloe get out. They began walking through the junction and soon spotted the stand. A pair of manacles had been fixed to it. Chloe felt her chest tighten, the memories of the prison coming back to her. She shook them off and sighed. "Let's do this."

Tyler pulled her into another hug, her tears spilling out at last. "Goodbye, Chloe."

"Bye, Tyler. Take care of Chase."

"I will." Tyler let go, and ran off to the car, leaving Chloe alone with Jack. He looked at her, then fiercely embraced her.

"Jack, will you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Tell Morris I'm sorry I hurt him, and that I still care about him. And take care of Connor. Tell him I love him."

"I will. And don't worry, Chloe. I will do whatever I have to to find you, and bring you back home."

"I know you will." Chloe pulled her husband into a long kiss, which she held until she could take no more, and pulled back. "I guess we have to do this." She walked over to the stand, and Jack locked her arms in the manacles over her head. He kissed her cheek. "Goodbye, Chloe."

"Goodbye, Jack."

Jack slowly walked away, keeping his wife in sight at all times. He soon reached the car, where Tyler was waiting, and got in. He took one last look at Chloe, then turned the car on, driving off.

2424242424

Chloe shifted, her legs cramping up. _I hope they get here soon, if for no other reason I get out of these damn chains_. Jack had left 2 hours ago, and Chloe was starting to get impatient. _I'm giving myself up to him. What is he waiting for? _She soon heard a noise behind her, and found her arms being freed by men in masks. Chloe did not resist as she was dragged off to a waiting van and thrown inside, her arms and legs chained to the floor of the transport. "O'Brian's secure, sir" the lead goon spoke into his phone.

"Check her for trackers."

The goon pulled out a scanner and ran it up and down Chloe's body 4 times, satisfying himself that she was carrying no tracking devices. "She's clean, sir."

"Bring her back here. Make sure you are not followed."

"Yes, sir." The goon hung up, then stuffed a gag in Chloe's mouth. "I thought you might like to know that your daughter has been returned to your husband. Your sacrifice will not go unrewarded."

Chloe shot him a glare, and he threw a blindfold over her eyes, laughing. Chloe closed her eyes, praying that they would continue to keep their end of the bargain. She felt the transport start up, taking off towards its destination. She drifted off, only to be woken up a short time later, and led out of the van, ending up in a small cell. Her restraints were removed, and she was left alone, save for a figure in the shadows outside the cell. She shot him a glare, then collapsed on the bed, falling back asleep. _Back in prison. But at least my daughter is safe. That's all I can ask for._

2424242424

Jack was sitting in the babies' room with Brian, watching his children. Edgar had been delivered to him only a few minutes ago, and all 3 were sleeping fitfully. _You're safe now, my children. And don't worry. We'll find Mom, and she'll be back. Things will go back to the way they were. _His phone vibrated, and he left the room to answer it, keeping one eye on his children. "Yeah."

"Jack, it's Mike." It was Doyle.

"Mike. What's going on? Do you have anything for me?"

"I do. It took some doing, but I was able to get all of CTU's information on Colby Kessler." Doyle paused. "Did he call back?"

"Yes, he did." Jack stopped, trying to say what needed to be said.

"Jack, what is it?"

"He agreed to return the children in exchange for something. We agreed to his price."

Doyle frowned. "What did you give him?" Jack didn't respond. "Jack?"

"Chloe. He would only return the children if Chloe was handed over to him. I tried to stop her, Mike, but she went along with it. I dropped her off at Largo Junction almost 3 hours ago, and my children were returned." He looked down. "Mike, help me find her."

"I'll do whatever I can, Jack. I'll have Victor send you the information we have on Kessler."

"You brought someone else into this? Mike, can you trust him?"

Doyle scowled. "Yes, I can, Jack. I know this guy. So does Chloe. She picked him as her replacement. He won't say a word to Erin about what we're doing."

"Fine. Send the information." Jack booted up Chloe's laptop and waited a few minutes until the files Doyle sent to him came through. "I've got them, Mike. Thanks."

"Just let me know if there's anything else I can do for you."

"I will." Jack hung up and grabbed the laptop, telling Brian to watch the kids, and headed to the living room, where Connor was working diligently. "I've got something." Connor looked up, and Jack set the laptop next to Connor, who grabbed it and hooked it up to his own, sifting through the data. For over an hour he worked silently, his focus totally on his task, until he stopped. "Well, this is the most promising thing I've found yet. Out of all Kessler's contacts in the past few months, only a handful have been in Los Angeles recently." He turned the screen to Jack. "These are all of his contacts that have been sighted in LA in the last month. The first 2 are dead, which leaves these 3." He pulled up information on the 3 men. "Has she ever met any of these men?"

Jack studied the information carefully. "If she has, I wouldn't know. Tyler, Chase, what about you?"

Tyler shook her head, but Chase just stared at the screen in disbelief. "Yes, she has." He pulled up the last one. "Him." Staring back at the group was the sour visage of Peter Michaels.


	7. Prisoner

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 7

"Peter Michaels? Who is he? How does Chloe know him?" Jack pressed Chase. Chase didn't respond. "Chase, please. Tell us what you know."

Chase took a deep breath. "It has to do with Chloe's kidnapping. You know she was kidnapped because of the project she worked on, right?" Jack nodded. "Michaels was the director of our unit when Chloe was assigned to work on the project. All the information Chloe stored on that hard drive came from him. She asked him for junk files to test it out. Instead, he hacked into DOD archives and pulled highly classified material off of there, passing it off as junk, so she would store it in there, and he could have her sent to prison. He was counting on the fact that she wouldn't turn on him. She busted him, though, and he went to prison."

"Chloe almost lost her job because of that. She spent a month in prison herself, and after she got out, she was different. She became obsessed with following the rules at all times. Except when it came to me. Sometimes she would do what I'd ask of her, even if it ended up getting her in trouble. That's how we both ended up in LA. Long story."

"I don't get it, Chase" Tyler said. "Why would this guy Michaels want Chloe to go to prison? What did she do to him?"

Chase put his head down. "I'm going to tell you something, and you can't tell anyone I told you. Not even Chloe. She'd kill me if she knew I told you guys." He sighed. "It was about a month after Chloe had started working for CTU. I had been undercover for the previous 3 months, so I hadn't met her until then. My first day back, I was going through the lower section of the building, when I saw her being harassed by another one of the analysts, a guy named Alex Thomas, and 2 of his friends. I broke it up, and sent everyone back to work. I knew this guy's reputation, though, so I decided to keep an eye on him."

"A week later, I saw him and his goons follow Chloe out of the building, so I followed them. When I got out to the parking lot, they had dragged her behind her car, and Alex was assaulting her viciously. I stopped him, and the 3 of them were arrested and sent to prison for assault." He shook his head. "Chloe was pretty messed up for a while after that. It took a lot of time for her to get over what happened to her. I was the only person she would even talk to outside of work. She pushed everyone else away." Chase paused. "The reason why I'm telling you this, is because Alex was Michaels' brother. Michaels set Chloe up to get back at her for sending his brother to prison. We thought they were gone for good. Obviously, we were mistaken."

He stopped talking, and the room went silent, everyone absorbing what Chase had told them. Jack finally spoke. "We have to find Chloe, and get her back. I will not let her suffer because of her past. She's been through enough." He stood up. "Keep working on that information, Connor. See if you can find anything on Michaels in there." Connor nodded. "Tyler, Chase, you two go to the junction. See if you can figure out where they went."

"All right, but what are you going to do?" Tyler asked.

"I'm going to call Mike. Michaels was CTU. They might have something on him. Let me know the second you find anything." He went back to his study and called Mike.

"Doyle."

"Mike, it's Jack."

"Hey, Jack. Did you find anything on Kessler?"

"Yes, we did. That information you sent us was helpful. Thank you."

"I'm glad I could help" Doyle replied. "So what did you find?"

"We were able to narrow down the list of Kessler's contacts to one- a man named Peter Michaels. Ever heard of him?"

"No, I can't say I have. What's going on, Jack?"

Jack hesitated, but pressed on. "We think Michaels worked with Kessler to get to Chloe."

"Why would he want Chloe?"

"Revenge." Jack proceeded to tell Doyle everything Chase had told him, leaving out the details of her assault. "Michaels was a CTU guy. Do you have any information on him?"

"Let me check. I'll call you back in a few minutes." Doyle hung up, and called Victor. "Victor, it's Mike. Can you come up to my office for a minute? I need to go over some protocols with you." He watched the slender analyst make his way up to his office, cursing as he saw Driscoll waylay him briefly. _Dammit. Come on, Erin. Let him go. _He soon got his wish, as Driscoll let Victor go, shooting a glare at him. He returned her stare, then softened as Victor came in. "Shut the door."

"So what protocols do you need me to look at?" Victor said quickly.

"None. That was just an excuse. I think Erin's tapping my phone, so I couldn't tell you what I needed over the phone. I need you to get me some information on a former CTU agent- Peter Michaels. I want to know where he's been the last few months."

Victor looked a little hesitant. "Mike, why are you asking me to do this? You're trying to get me fired, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not, Victor." Doyle sighed. "It's about Chloe."

"What about her?"

"She's... in trouble, and I'm trying to help her. That's why I need this information." Doyle looked at the other man. "Victor, please."

"...Fine. If Chloe's in trouble, I'll do it." Victor sat down at Doyle's computer and began searching the archives for information. He stopped a few minutes later. "Here you go. It's all we have on Michaels."

"Thank you." Doyle looked outside his office, seeing Driscoll coming up. "You better go back to work." He quickly hid the information, bringing up a series of revised protocols. No sooner had Victor left, then Driscoll came in. "Erin, what's going on?"

"What were you doing?"

"I was going over some revised protocols with Victor."

Driscoll looked at him skeptically. "And you couldn't do it over the phone?"

"No, I couldn't, Erin. Besides, it would have taken too long."

She glared at him for a moment, then thrust a sheet of paper at Doyle. "Were you aware that Jack Bauer's children were kidnapped 2 days ago?"

Doyle quickly grabbed the paper, scanning it. "Oh, my god." He looked up at Driscoll in feigned shock. "What are we going to do about it?"

"Nothing" she replied.

He glared at her. "The children of 2 former CTU agents were kidnapped, and we're going to do nothing? What if this is connected to something bigger?"

"LAPD and the FBI are going to be handling it."

Doyle stood up. "Erin, I know you hate Jack and Chloe, but this is not the time for that. We're talking about 3 innocent children."

Driscoll merely stared at him. "My personal feelings towards Chloe and Jack have nothing to do with my decision not to aid the investigation. If it does turn out to be something bigger, then we'll take over. Until then, we're staying out of it. I don't want our resources tied up in something that doesn't involve terrorism. Is that clear, Agent Doyle?"

Doyle merely nodded. "Crystal."

Driscoll left his office, heading back to her own. Doyle watched her leave, then pulled his cell out and called Jack. "Jack, it's Mike."

"What have you got for me, Mike?"

"Hopefully something we can use." He shifted the phone to his other ear. "We might have a problem, Jack. Erin knows about your children. She asked me if I knew anything about it. I told her no, but I don't think she believed me. I don't know if I'll be able to help you for much longer without her finding out."

"Don't worry about it, Mike. You've already been helpful. Now what do you have for me?"

Doyle scanned over the information. Finding it too extensive for him to sort through, he put it on a disc. "I'm going to have to bring it to you. I'll be there in an hour." He hung up and grabbed his jacket, shutting down his system quickly. Once that was done, he logged off for the night and left his office. Driscoll caught him as he was heading out the door. "Leaving?"

"My shift is over, Erin. I'm going home to see my wife and children."

"I need you here, Mike."

Doyle stared at her in disbelief. "Erin, look around. We're not in the middle of a national crisis. Things have been quiet here lately. If you have any problems, Coleman can handle them."

She said nothing, and moved out of his way. "You can go. But you're on call."

"Fine."

2424242424

Chloe was sleeping peacefully, having just drifted off a few hours prior. To her surprise, she had been left alone after being placed in the cell, save for a grunt bringing her a tasteless meal late in the day. She had fallen asleep dreading what was coming. She was soon jerked from her slumber by a loud clanging. "Get on your knees and put your hands on your head" a harsh voice ordered. Chloe complied, and found her arms and legs being cuffed. "Move."

Chloe followed the guard outside the cell and down the corridor, until she found herself outside. A handful of prisoners were hard at work, clearing the quarry. 20 more guards were standing by. One of them handed her a shovel. "Get to work."

Chloe took it hesitantly. "What do you want me to do?"

The guard backhanded her across the face. "Quiet! No talking, prisoner." He motioned to the ground. "Start digging."

Chloe shook off the sting of the slap and got to work digging up the rocky soil. For over three hours, she worked silently, digging through the ground diligently, the watchful eyes of the guards on her and the others at all times. _Why are they making me do this? There doesn't seem to be any point to this. _The strain of the exercise began to take its toll on her, and she sank to the ground wearily.

"Hey! What are you doing, prisoner? Get up and get back to work!"

"Please. I need a break. Just a few minutes" she pleaded.

"You'll get a break when I tell you you can have one. Now get back to work."

Chloe gulped, the sun and the work making her thirsty. "Can I have some water?" she asked.

"No. It's not your designated break time, prisoner. Get back to work."

Chloe looked down, only to look up as she was struck with a truncheon and hauled to her feet. "I gave you an order. Get back to work, or you're going in the hole. Do you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, sir." Chloe grabbed the shovel and resumed digging. _What did you expect? You're back in prison, Chloe. But at least you're not being tortured this time. _Shaking her head, she focused on what she was doing.

"All right, prisoner. Take a break and get some water. You have 15 minutes" the guard said an hour later. Chloe dropped the shovel and wearily headed over to the break area, ignoring the stares of the 2 prisoners who were on break at the same time. She grabbed the mug she had been offered, drinking the water inside slowly. Jack had always told her to drink slowly if she were ever dehydrated. _You always looked out for me, Jack. _She finished off the water and poured herself another mug, drinking it slowly as well. The guard handed her a small container with some broth in it, and a biscuit. "It's all you're going to get, so eat up."

Chloe didn't argue, taking the food and downing it. No sooner had she finished, then she was approached. "Your 15 minutes are up, prisoner. Back to work." She followed them back to her spot and got back to work, losing herself in the work. _This sucks. My only consolation is, my children are safe._

"All right, prisoner. You're done for the day" the surly guard who had been at her side all day told her a few hours later. He grabbed the shovel from her, handing it off to another guard. "Take her back to her cell." Chloe followed the guards back to her cell, where she was freed from her cuffs, and locked in. She sank down on the bunk, completely exhausted from the day's events. She rubbed her legs, which were sore, her thoughts turning to her husband and children. Their faces stuck in her mind, and Chloe felt her will grow stronger. _I can survive this. I'm doing this for them_. She pulled the thin cover she had been provided over her and fell asleep.

2424242424

"On your feet, prisoner!" Chloe jerked awake and looked outside. _It's still dark. What do they want with me now?_

"I said, on your feet!"

Groaning, Chloe stood up and put her hands on her head, allowing herself to be lead out of the cell, ending up in a small room. The guard pushed her in the middle and locked her feet

in place, cuffing her hands in front of her. Chloe shifted, then looked up and gasped. Peter Michaels was standing in front of her, smirking.

"Michaels?"

"So, you still remember me, O'Brian."

Chloe scowled. "How could I forget you, Michaels?"

He slapped her. "You will address me as 'sir'. Is that clear, O'Brian?"

"Yes, sir" she gritted out through clenched teeth.

"Good." He turned away from her. "So tell me, O'Brian, are you enjoying your stay here?"

Chloe stared at him and said nothing. He struck her again. "When I ask you a question, you answer me."

"I'm being imprisoned, _sir_. How do you think I'm enjoying it?"

"Don't get smart with me, O'Brian" he growled back at her. "Now answer the question. Are you enjoying your stay here?"

"No" Chloe said quietly, looking down.

"No, what?" Michaels glared at her when she didn't respond. "Look at me, O'Brian." Her head snapped up. "No, what?"

_Son of a bitch._ "No, sir."

"Good." Michaels leered at her. "I must say, O'Brian, you certainly have changed since I saw you last. I see now what my brother saw in you." He quickly stepped back. "The reason I went to so much trouble to have your children kidnapped, as you might have figured out, was to get my hands on you. I wanted you to suffer what I suffered. And you are. But I'm not cruel, O'Brian. You continue to obey the guards, and do as you're told, and your stay here will be bearable. You don't, and you'll be punished. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir, I do." _God, this is so humiliating, having to grovel at this bastard's feet. _She shifted again. "Sir, may I speak?"

"You may."

"Why are you doing this to me, sir? I've already suffered enough. I spent 2 years in prison being starved and beaten half to death every day. All because of that hard drive, and the information you gave me. Just let me go, sir. Let's just end this feud between us."

Michaels shook his head. "I can't do that, O'Brian. You need to pay for what you did to me. To Lex. He died waiting for his freedom, the freedom you stole from him." He stopped, then turned to the guards. "You can take her back to her cell now."


	8. Plain sight

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 8

_One month later..._

The loud thudding of footsteps echoed through the silent cellblock, as the unhappy occupants watched the 2 arrivals pass through grimly, heading to the warden's office, their purpose clear. They passed through the cellblock quickly and soon reached their destination, and the taller of the two rapped on the door. "Come in."

The men entered the office and closed the door. The warden looked up, regarding the men in front of him with disinterest. "Can I help you?"

The shorter man flashed his badge. "Warden Hollister, I'm Hal Turner, San Francisco CTU. My partner Kale Espen. We need to ask you a few questions concerning one of your charges."

Hollister shifted a bit. "One of my charges?" He turned to the man standing behind him, who shrugged briefly.

"Yes" Espen said, handing him a picture of a scowling man. "His name's Fred Simpson."

The warden frowned "What do you want with him? Prisoner Simpson has been a model prisoner the entire time he's been here. I haven't heard of any problems with him."

Turner leaned over Hollister's desk. "Mr Hollister, we believe that Mr. Simpson has ties to known terrorists. We need to interrogate him immediately."

Hollister looked down at the picture, then back at the two agents. "I'm sorry, Agent Turner. Prisoner Simpson is at Federal at the moment. He won't return until 2100 tomorrow night. I can arrange an interrogation in 2 days."

Espen merely shook his head. "No, we'll interrogate him at Federal. Thank you for your time, warden." The 2 agents left Hollister's office, heading back down the cellblocks. Turner dropped his pen on the floor while on his way out, and stopped to pick it up. As he was getting up, he glanced into the cell on his right and almost gasped in shock at the occupant sitting on the bed, her head bent low. _It couldn't be. _His shock only increased as the inmate looked up at him. _Chloe O'Brian? No way. What is she doing here? _He thought he saw a flicker of recognition cross her face, but she quickly looked away.

"Hal!" Turner looked ahead as Espen came back to check on him. "Hal, you all right?"

"Yeah" he replied. "Yeah, I just had to fix my bootlace. Let's go, Kale. We have to go to Federal." Sparing a quick glance at Chloe, who faintly nodded, he followed his partner out of the prison and headed for their transport, heading to Federal and their target.

2424242424

"Well, that was close, 'Mr. Hollister'. Or should I say, Mr. Michaels" the man standing behind the warden remarked as the two CTU agents left his office.

Michaels turned around. "Shut up, Kessler." He glanced back at the door. "Our cover might have just been blown."

Colby chuckled. "Oh, don't worry so much, Michaels. They were San Francisco agents. Besides, O'Brian hasn't worked for CTU in almost 6 years. Any agents there now won't recognize her."

Michaels merely glared at the other man. "With that attitude, I'm surprised you were able to fool your partner for so long in Turkey." He turned his attention to the monitor in the near corner of the room, which was set at all times on Chloe's cell. "I waited for years to get my hands on O'Brian, and now I have her right where I want her. I am not letting this chance slip away because of your cavalier attitude, Kessler."

Colby turned serious instantly. "Don't accuse me of being cavalier, Michaels. I know what's at stake if we fail. And I have no intention of failing. But I just want to make one thing clear- I'm only in this to get to Tyler. She's my only concern. Once Tyler's dead, you're on your own. I don't care what you do to O'Brian after that, as long as you stay out of my way."

Michaels frowned. "If you want Anderson dead, why didn't you have the men kill her at the junction? She was exposed, Kessler. A perfect target, and you had them let her go."

Colby glared. "No one is killing Tyler Anderson but me. That honor belongs to me. I want to do it personally, face to face."

Michaels said nothing, his eyes on Chloe. She was sitting on her bunk, the weariness she felt from a month of hard labor showing clearly. _Good. She deserves it. _He looked back at Colby, who was buffing his nails on his shirt. "You never answered my question. Why do you want Anderson dead?"

"That's not your concern" Colby shot back. "Stay out of it."

Michaels shrugged. "Fine. But have the men stay alert for any strange activity in the area for the next few days. If I know O'Brian's friends, they will find us eventually. We can't let them get her back.

"All right. If you think that's really necessary." Colby left the room, and Michaels focused his attention back on Chloe. She couldn't see the camera, and had no idea he was watching her. _We'll see how long you can keep this up, O'Brian. You're tough, but I'm tougher._

2424242424

Doyle was sitting in his office, going through a report Victor had sent him, when his cell rang. "Doyle."

"Mike, it's Hal Turner."

Doyle nearly dropped the phone in surprise. "Hal? It's been a while. What's up? How are things going for you in San Francisco?"

"Okay, I guess. It's quieter here, for one thing. But I can't wait to come back to LA. Only a few more days, then I'm coming back." Turner switched his cell to his other ear. "Look, Mike, I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?"

"Do you remember Chloe O'Brian?"

"Yeah, I do" Doyle said, not wanting to reveal what had happened to her. "What about her?"

"Well, my partner Kale and I went to one of the prisons here yesterday to interrogate a suspect. On the way out, I stopped in front of one of the cells to pick something up, and... I thought I saw her in the cell. I didn't get a great look, and I didn't talk to the inmate, but she looked just like O'Brian." Turner paused. "Mike, what would O'Brian be doing in prison?"

Doyle looked down for a minute, then finally spoke. "You can't tell anyone about this, Hal. You understand?"

"I won't say a word, Mike."

"Good. About a month ago, her children were kidnapped by a rogue CIA agent. He offered to return them if Chloe gave herself up to him. She did, and we've been trying to find her ever since."

"We meaning CTU?"

Doyle scowled. "No. Even if CTU knew about her confinement, which they don't, the director here wouldn't lift a finger to save her. They can't stand each other." He thought for a minute. "Hal, what prison was this?"

"Bridgetown Correctional Facility, a few miles south of downtown."

_I don't believe it. He's been hiding her in plain sight. But why? _"While you were there, did you see anyone suspicious?"

"No, not really. I wasn't there very long, Mike. I only spoke to the warden, Hollister, and only for a few minutes."

Doyle glanced at the shot of Michaels. "What did he look like?"

"Hollister? He was tall, stocky, black hair, green eyes. He had a scar on his left cheek."

_No way. _"Look, Hal, I'm going to have to call you back, all right?" Doyle quickly hung up and called Jack. "Jack, it's Mike. I think I might have found Chloe."

He heard a noise on the other end as Jack sat down, knocking his coffee cup on the floor. "You found her?"

"I think so. You remember Agent Turner?"

"Yeah, I met him the day I came back from China. What about him?"

"He's working in San Francisco right now" Doyle replied. "He called me just now and said he saw her yesterday in one of the prisons there."

"Which one?"

"Bridgetown Correctional Facility."

Jack frowned. "Why there? It's in plain sight."

"Exactly" Doyle said. "We've been looking for secret bases and such, that he's been able to hide her right under our noses."

"Thank you, Mike. I'll have Connor look into it." He paused. "If it ends up being legitimate, will you help me get her out?"

Doyle blanched. "You mean, break her out of a prison? Jack, I don't know about this. It'd be one thing to break her out of a bunker, or something like that, but this is a legitimate prison."

"And Chloe doesn't deserve to be locked up, Mike" Jack retorted. "She's been through that too many times. I didn't say it would be easy, but I will do anything I have to to free my wife. Now I am asking for your help. If you want to back out, do it now."

Doyle said nothing for a few minutes. _If this doesn't work, I could go to prison myself. My children would grow up without their father around, just like I did. But... if it were Nadia in that position, I'd be doing the exact same thing Jack is doing. I don't really have a choice here. _"All right, Jack. I'm in. I'll help you get Chloe out of prison. I've been in on this from the beginning, I might as well go the distance."

"Thank you." Jack paused. "Once we know for sure Chloe's there, we'll go to San Francisco. I'll call you back when we're ready to go. Can you get some time off?"

"Yeah. Harricks owes me a favor, so he'll get me the time I need." He stopped. "One more thing, Jack. Turner said he only spoke to the warden, but from the description he gave me, I think it's Michaels. Which means it's going to be a lot harder to get her out."

Jack felt his heart sink. "We'll think of something, Mike." He hung up, and sat down, burying his face in his hands. _This is not good. If Mike's right, things just got more complicated for us. But I won't give up. Chloe, you will be free again._

2424242424

"Come on, put your back into it!"

Chloe shook her head and wiped the sweat from her brow. She had been clearing debris all day and she was exhausted._ I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. But I made the choice to give myself up to that bastard, and I have to live with it. I have to keep going. _She forced herself to think of her children, the one thing that had kept her going during the long hours of back-breaking labor. _That's it, Chloe. Just think of Teri, and David, and Edgar. They wouldn't want a quitter for a mother. _Her strength renewed, she got back to work.

Her new cellmate, a sour-faced woman the other inmates called Ice, who was serving a life sentence for murder, was waiting patiently for her to deliver the payload. "Come on, Hacker!" she called out. "Let's do this."

Chloe resisted the urge to glare at her, and rolled her wheelbarrow over to Ice. Ice took over, and began emptying the wheelbarrow, stealing glances at Chloe, who was moving slowly. "Hacker, you all right?"

_I'm not going to show weakness. Not in front of her, or anyone. _"I'm fine, Ice" she replied. "I'm just a little tired, that's all."

"Hey! No talking, ladies!" the nearest guard called out to them, striding over menacingly. Chloe quickly shut up and focused on her task. When the wheelbarrow had been emptied, Chloe moved to grab another load, but was stopped by Ice, who indicated silently that she would take over. Chloe nodded and sat down for a minute.

"On your feet, prisoner!" the lead guard said quickly, moving over to Chloe and hauling her up. "You're not resting on my watch."

Chloe said nothing as her legs flared slightly. _Just block it out, Chloe. Don't show weakness. _She grimaced slightly as another flare of pain hit her. _No, not now._

"Hey, Hacker! Help me with this, would ya?" Chloe turned to see Ice struggling with a large piece of debris. Chloe began to move, but got only a few steps before she stopped, the pain in her legs flaring to almost excruciating levels. She vainly tried to shake it off, and continue working, but she took another step, and heard a sickening crunch as her leg finally gave out from the strain, and she collapsed on the ground, writhing in pain.


	9. Infiltration

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 9

"Hacker!" Chloe faintly heard the voice of Ice calling out to her. "Hacker, you all right?"

"I'm fine" Chloe managed to get out, and tried to get up, but the pain in her leg was too intense, and she lay on the ground miserably.

"What's going on here?" the head guard said, coming over to Chloe. "Prisoner, your shift is not over. Get up and get back to work." He frowned as Chloe made another effort to get up, then collapsed again. "Get on your feet, and get back to work. Now."

_Come on, Chloe. You can do this. _She made a third effort to get up, but it was as successful as the first two were. "I can't move, sir" she gasped out.

He stared at her for a minute, then turned to Ice. "What happened here?"

"Hacker here was helping me clear this junk, when I heard a snap, and the next thing I know, she's on the ground." Ice looked at Chloe, who had begun to cry from the intense pain. "She's messed up, sir. She needs to go to the infirmary now."

"Fine. Take her. You have 30 minutes, then I want you back here."

Ice turned to Chloe. "Come on, Hacker." She bent down and helped Chloe get up. "Just lean on me." The two of them slowly made their way through the prison, Chloe leaning on Ice the entire time. She tried to put some weight on her injured leg, and almost stumbled, Ice's firm grip keeping her up. "Careful, Hacker. Don't fall." They soon reached the infirmary, and Ice set Chloe down, then called for the prison doctor. He came out slowly. "What's going on?"

"She's hurt. Something's wrong with her leg" Ice replied.

"Get her on the table." Chloe was helped up and lay down on the exam table. She screamed as the doctor examined her leg gingerly. "I think it's broken. I'll have to do some tests, but you are not going back to work. I'll be right back." He left, and Chloe was left alone with Ice.

"You should go back to work, Ice, before the guards come looking for you. I don't want you to get in trouble because of me."

"You sure?"

"Yeah" Chloe replied. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Go on."

Ice nodded, then left to return to work. Chloe waited for the doctor to return, but soon found herself in the company of Michaels. "Hello, O'Brian."

_What does he want now? _She glared at him defiantly. He smirked, then glanced at her injured leg. "Seems you've had an accident, O'Brian. Tell me, does this hurt?" He prodded her leg hard, and Chloe bit her lip to keep from screaming. _I am not giving this bastard the satisfaction of hearing me scream. _"Yes, it does, sir" she spat out, her head beginning to throb from the pain.

"What a shame. I guess you'll just have to suck it up. You have work to do, O'Brian. I want you out of here and back to work by tomorrow, or you're going into lockdown."

_I don't believe this. My leg might be broken, and he expects me to work?_

"Did you hear me, O'Brian?"

"Yes, sir, I did. But I can't walk."

"Then figure something out. Unless you want to be put in lockdown." Michaels glared at her, and Chloe looked away.

"What's going on?" Both looked up to see the doctor walking in. "Warden, what are you doing here?"

"I just came by to tell Prisoner O'Brian here that I want her back to work by tomorrow."

"Out of the question!" The doctor walked right up to the table where Chloe was laying. "She can't even stand, and you want her to work? No. She stays here until she can walk."

"Doctor O'Reilly, I am in charge of this facility."

"Not when it comes to the wellbeing of my charges, Warden. This is my call. She is not leaving." Dr. O'Reilly crossed his arms and slowly inched towards Michaels. Michaels merely turned and headed for the door. "Fine. But you get her back on her feet as soon as possible." He left, and Chloe sank down miserably. "Is there anything you can do for me?"

Dr. O'Reilly shook his head. "This isn't exactly a modern day hospital here. The best thing I can do for you right now is splint your leg. I'll try to get Warden Hollister to let you be transported to County General, but in the meantime, you're staying in bed. No leaving bed... for any reason."

_Not again. _Chloe looked down. "Fine." _Jack, please. Get me out of here._

2424242424

"Connor, have you got the list yet?" Jack pressed his stepson anxiously.

Connor didn't look up. "This is a secure database, Jack, even for a good hacker. Just give me a minute." He continued working, looking up a couple minutes later. "Okay, I'm in." He scanned the information that came up. "I don't see her on there anywhere."

"Keep looking."

"Jack, please let me work." Connor began scanning each portion of the file more thoroughly, searching for any mention of Chloe. _Come on, Chloe. I know you're here somewhere. Wait a minute. This could be it. "_I've got it!" He pointed to a section of the file that detailed prisoner transfers. "This shows that there was a transfer into the prison 7 hours after you dropped her off, Jack. It doesn't give a name, but the description of the inmate matches Chloe almost exactly. We found her."

Jack felt a wave of immense relief. "Good job." He frowned as his thoughts turned to how he was going to free his wife. "Now how do we get her out?"

"Good question" Tyler replied. "This isn't going to be easy. There are going to be at least several dozen guards, all of them following Michaels' orders." She thought for a minute. "What if we got someone in there undercover? Someone that could help us break her out?"

"Risky, but it could work."

"Who do we send, though?" Chase interjected. "It has to be someone that we can trust not to flip. It can't be me, Michaels knows me. He probably knows who you are, Jack, so you're out as well. And since Kessler's involved, Tyler can't do it."

"I'll do it" Connor said quickly.

"Absolutely not" Jack replied, cutting him off.

"Why not? I want to help get her out, Jack. She's my mother."

"Exactly. Connor, you're not trained for this work. This is going to be extremely dangerous. More to the point, Chloe would never forgive us if something happened to you." He suddenly looked over. "What about Mike? He has the training, and Michaels and Kessler don't know who he is. He'd be perfect." He got up. "I'm going to call him. Connor, keep working. I know I'm asking a lot from you, but I'm extremely grateful for everything you've done. Tyler, you and Chase leave for San Francisco tomorrow. If this doesn't work, we'll need a contingency plan. And stay out of sight until I contact you." They nodded, and Jack left the group to call Doyle. "Mike, it's Jack."

"Hey, Jack. What's up?"

"We found Chloe. Turner was right, she is in Bridgetown."

"Thank god." Doyle paused. "How are you going to get her out?"

"That's why I'm calling" he replied. "We need someone to go undercover and help get her out. None of us can do it, so I'm asking you." He sighed. "Look, Mike, I know I'm asking you to risk your career, but I don't know who else to turn to. If I could do this myself, I would, but they know who I am."

Doyle said nothing. _If I back out now, she'll be there for a very long time. My career isn't worth leaving an innocent woman behind bars. _"I'll do it, Jack. I'll go undercover. I have a couple of contacts in San Francisco. And Turner's still up there. He'll help us."

"Thank you, Mike. Can you leave for San Francisco tonight?"

"Yeah. I'll get on a plane right away."

"No" Jack said quickly. "Don't fly. Flights are traceable. Mike, we have to do this completely under the radar. Drive up there."

"All right." Doyle frowned as a thought came to him. "Jack? Did you or any of the others contact the FBI or LAPD about your children being kidnapped?"

"No. I gave them specific instructions not to bring anyone else into this. Why?"

"Well, I know I didn't, but somehow they found out. That's how Erin found out- she showed me the report from LAPD. She won't do anything to help, though."

Jack groaned. _This is not good. If any one of them are working for Michaels, they could blow this in a second. But right now we have no other options. _"Look, we'll worry about that later. Right now, our only objective is getting Chloe out of prison, and as quickly as we can. Leave tonight. I'll be joining you in a couple days." He hung up, then rejoined Connor in the living room. Tyler and Chase were gone. "It's started. Mike's going undercover."

Connor merely nodded, his focus on his laptop. Jack sat down next to him. "Look, Connor, I don't want you to think I don't trust you, because I do. If I didn't, I wouldn't be asking you to help us rescue Chloe. It's just... I love her more than anything. I know her better than anyone. She was perfectly willing to sacrifice her life to save her children. Chloe loves you, Connor. If something happened to you while we were trying to free her, she'd never forgive herself. Chloe already lost you once, and it nearly killed her. If she lost you again, that would destroy her. And me. I care about you, too."

Connor looked up at Jack. "You mean that?"

"Yes, I do. You might not be my son, Connor, but I care about you the same way I do my children." He stopped. "I'm going to San Francisco in a couple of days. I need you and Brian to stay here and watch the children. If I need to contact you, I will. Can you do that for me?"

"Sure, Jack. I won't let anything happen to them this time. I promise. Anything you need, I'll do it."

"Thank you. Actually, there is something I need. Mike told me that LAPD and the FBI found out about the kids being kidnapped. I want you to look into it for me while I'm gone."

Connor nodded. "I'll do what I can."

"All right. Now go home and get some rest. We're going to need it."

2424242424

Doyle pulled into the parking lot of the prison Chloe was being held at, and adjusted his shades, hiding in the bushes. _Time to pick a target. _He watched the entrance for over an hour, waiting for a likely subject. _Come on. Come on. Finally. Oh, he's perfect. _A young guard who bore a close resemblance to himself was passing by, his focus on the building. Doyle picked up a small pebble and threw it, causing the guard to come in his direction. Once he was in reach, Doyle grabbed him and quickly subdued the younger man, securing him in his vehicle and driving it a short distance away, into the nearby woods. He took a look at the frightened guard, then knocked him out, making a quick call to Tyler to have him picked up. _I know this is going to come back to haunt me, but I don't care right now._

Doyle stepped out of the vehicle a few minutes later, dressed in the guard's uniform and carrying his ID. He walked through the main doors and into the guard's station, acknowledging the greetings of the other officers quietly. Once he had settled in, he checked what the guard's schedule would have been. _Infirmary duty for the next 2 months. Great. I'll never find her now. _Sighing, he headed off to the infirmary, quickly reaching his destination. He looked in and almost gasped in shock at what he saw. Chloe was lying in bed, her leg splinted. She appeared to be sleeping. _Oh, my god. I found her._


	10. What investigation?

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 10

Doyle stepped back from the door, shocked by the sight of Chloe. _What happened to her? Well, that doesn't matter right now. I have to figure out how to get her out of here. _He watched as Dr. O'Reilly came in and spoke to Chloe briefly, giving her a shot of something, then turning and walking towards Doyle. He jumped and ducked out of sight, stooping to act like he was fixing his boot.

"Hey." He looked up to see Dr. O'Reilly standing next to him. "Yes?"

"I need you to go in there and keep an eye on the prisoner for a few minutes, while I take care of a few things. You know she's not supposed to be left alone for even a second, right?" Doyle curtly nodded.

"Good." Dr. O'Reilly left, and Doyle walked through the doors and right up to Chloe's bed. Chloe scowled as she saw him approach. _Great. This scumbag has to be watching me. _She shuddered as she remembered the night he had taken her out of her cell and assaulted her, with his friends watching. She had let her guard down for a second and paid for it. _He's not Mike, Chloe. Remember that. _"Get away from me, you scumbag." He reached out to touch her, and she jerked away. "Don't touch me."

"Chloe, stop. It's me." Chloe froze. "Mike?"

"Yeah."

"How did you find me?"

"Agent Turner was here a few days ago, and he recognized you. He told me you were here, and Jack sent me to infiltrate this place."

_Thank god. _"How are the kids? Are they all okay?"

"They're fine. They weren't hurt."

Chloe sighed with relief, then looked down. "Mike, please get me out of here. I don't belong here."

"I know you don't, Chloe. We're going to do everything we can to get you out of here safely." He thought for a minute. "Chloe, I need you to be ready to move in a couple days. Until then, I need you to sit tight. Can you do that?"

She nodded. "Yeah. If it gets me out of here, I'll do whatever you need me to." Chloe looked up at Doyle. "How's Jack doing?"

"Not too good. He misses you. I can see it in his eyes every day." He stopped talking as he heard footsteps. "Be patient, Chloe. You'll be out of here soon."

Chloe gave him a faint nod, then looked away as Dr. O'Reilly came back in. "Was she any trouble?"

Doyle shook his head. "You're dismissed, then." Doyle left, and Dr. O'Reilly turned to Chloe. "I'm sorry, O'Brian, but the warden isn't budging. He won't let you leave here."

"Dammit." She exhaled softly. "I guess I just have to hope this thing heals soon, because he won't let me stay in bed for too much longer."

"Well, you are not getting up until it does heal. Warden Hollister might run this prison, but I run this facility."

"You don't know this guy" she responded.

"I told you, O'Brian, he can't make you get up until I say you can."

She didn't say anything. _Michaels is determined to make me suffer. But Jack knows where I am. I'm going to get out of here._

2424242424

"Hey, Hartwell!" Doyle looked up as another guard called out to him. "Shift's over. It's Friday night, and we got the weekend off. Let's go down to Findlay's and have a few."

Doyle shook his head. "Sorry, I got stuff to do this weekend. Maybe next time."

"Craig Hartwell, turning down a night at Findlay's? I think hell just froze over."

Doyle shot him a glare, and the other guard backed off. "Hey, man, relax. You've been wound up all day. What's going on?"

"Nothing's going on. I'm just busy, that's all."

The guard looked at him, then backed off. "All right, all right. I'm out of here. Enjoy your weekend."

"I will." Doyle signed out and left the prison, making his way to his transport and driving to the motel they had chosen as their base while in San Francisco. Tyler greeted him quietly. "How'd it go? Did you find Chloe?

"Yes, I did. She was in the infirmary."

"The infirmary? What was she doing there?"

Doyle shook his head. "I don't know, but she wasn't in great shape. We have to get her out of there as soon as possible." He rubbed his neck. "Where is our guest?"

"Chase is watching him. He's in the other room."

"What about Jack?"

"Jack left LA a few hours ago. He called and said he would be here in half an hour."

"All right. Thanks, Tyler." Doyle walked into the bedroom, where Chase was standing, watching the captive guard, Hartwell, who was sitting down, looking almost bored. "Chase, could you give us some room here? I need to talk to him alone."

Chase didn't move. "He isn't talking. He won't say a word."

"Oh, he'll talk to me." Doyle turned to look at Chase. "Chase, please." Chase stared at Hartwell, then left the room. Once he was gone, Doyle turned to the guard. "What did you do to her?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What did you do to Chloe? And spare me the 'What are you talking about?' crap. I've seen her. I saw how she reacted when I came near her. She mistook me for you." He glared and drew his weapon. "Did you hurt her?"

"If you're talking about her injury, I didn't do that."

Doyle brought his weapon up to Hartwell's forehead. "Answer me. What did you do to her?"

The guard merely looked at Doyle. "Nothing she didn't want" he replied with a slight smile.

Doyle nearly dropped his weapon as his captive's words sunk in. "You raped her."

"I wouldn't say that. But she did put up quite a fight once she figured out what I was doing. That was fine with me. If they don't fight back, where's the fun in that?"

"Fun? You're sick. You took an innocent woman, one who was in no condition to fight back, and assaulted her." Doyle's eyes burned with hatred at what this man had done to someone he considered a friend.

"What are you going to do? Kill me? Torture me? Or are you just going to stand there and stare at me?"

Doyle merely stared at him. "That's not my place. As much as I'd love to rip you apart for what you did to Chloe, I'll let her husband deal with you. And believe me, when he's finished with you, you'll wish you were dead."

"Are you trying to scare me?" Hartwell said defiantly. "Because if you are, you're doing a really bad job of it."

Doyle reared back and sunk his fist into Hartwell's stomach viciously. He bent over and gasped, coughing violently. "Oh, please, that didn't hurt" Hartwell finally spat out after catching his breath. He was rewarded for his remark with a backhand across the face, but shook it off. "You hit like a girl. My old man used to beat me worse than that."

"Why, you son of a-"

"Mike, enough!" Doyle looked up to see Jack standing in the doorway, a stern look on his face.

"It's not enough, Jack. Not after what he did to your wife."

"What are you talking about?"

"Go on, tell him" Doyle spat at Hartwell, pressing his weapon to the guard's back. Hartwell said nothing. "All right, I'll tell him. Craig Hartwell, meet Jack Bauer. The husband of the woman you raped."

Jack stopped and stared at Hartwell for a long minute, Doyle's words running through his mind. _This bastard... raped Chloe? He raped my beautiful wife? _The shock wore off and Jack launched himself at Hartwell, knocking him on the floor and beating him mercilessly, raining vicious kicks on the helpless guard's prone body. He landed one last kick, then collapsed on the bed, breathing heavily. "You sick, vile son of a bitch. She is innocent, she doesn't deserve to be locked up, and you do that to her. You took advantage of your power, and you hurt my wife."

"If you're expecting me to feel regret, Bauer, then don't" Hartwell spat out. "Because I don't regret what I did. Not for a minute. I see why you like her, though. She was a wildcat."

"You son of a bitch! I'll kill you!" Jack reached for his weapon, but was restrained by Doyle. "Let go of me, Mike."

"No, Jack. You need to calm down."

"Calm down? Mike, this sick bastard raped my wife, and you want me to calm down? No. Get out of my way."

"We still need him alive, Jack, until we get Chloe back. Once we do, you can do what you want to him. But if you snap now, you could be putting Chloe's life at risk. Now we need to figure out how to get her out of that prison, and we need to do it now, before anyone finds out about him."

The rage still flowed through Jack, but he knew Doyle was right. _If I kill him now, that could jeopardize this mission, and I could lose the only chance I have of getting Chloe back. _"You're right, Mike." He shot a glare at Hartwell, then knocked him out. "Tie him up, then meet me in the other room."

2424242424

"... and that's how we'll get out" Doyle said half an hour later, as he, Jack, Tyler, and Chase were sitting around the table discussing their strategy.

"What about the power? How long could we keep it off?" Tyler asked.

"That's up to Connor. A lot of this depends on him." Jack pulled out his phone and called Connor. "Connor, it's Jack."

"What's going on, Jack?"

"I need you to do something for me. Can you hack into the prison's systems and cut their power for a short time?"

"I can try. You need me to do it now?"

"No" Jack replied. "Tomorrow night. That's when we're going to make our move."

"I'll be ready, then. You just call me when you're ready for me." Connor paused. "Did you see Chloe? Is she okay?"

"I did" Doyle spoke up. "Connor, your mother is alive, but we need to get her out of there as soon an possible."

"Okay."

"Thank you." Jack was about to hang up, but stopped. "How are the kids, Connor?"

"They're okay. Brian and I are not letting them out of our sight."

"Good. I'll call you when we're ready to begin." He paused. "One more thing. Have you been able to find anything on the LAPD's investigation into the kidnapping?"

"What investigation? Jack, I checked all the records, and there's nothing in their databases. LAPD knew nothing about the kids being taken."

"That's not possible" Doyle interjected. "I saw the report, Connor."

Connor scowled. "I'm looking at the LAPD's database right now, Mike. There's nothing."

Silence fell as the 4 of them processed what Connor had told them. Chase was the first to snap out of it. "Thank you, Connor. We'll get back to you." He hung up and turned to the others. "This is not good. Someone in CTU is working with Michaels. But who?"

"It's obvious" Jack replied. "It has to be Erin."


	11. Change of plans

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 11

"Erin?" Doyle questioned. "Why would you think that?"

"It makes sense" Jack replied. "Kessler and Michaels would need someone in CTU who could help keep an eye on anyone we would contact for help. Erin hates both of us, and she has the power to do that, so she's the most likely suspect."

"Which means they may already know we're here" Tyler said.

"Wait a minute" Doyle interrupted. "She might not like you two very much, but I doubt she would go this far. Maybe Connor missed something."

"You don't know Erin, Mike. You don't know how much she hates us. I've seen her work. And I trust Connor a lot more than I do Erin."

Doyle merely looked at Jack. "Jack, what happened between you guys?"

Jack sighed. "Fine." He told them everything that had happened between him and Driscoll, including Chloe's part. "The last time I heard of her until that day we went back to CTU, she had left following her daughter's death. Before that, she and I had agreed to put our differences aside to get through the day. I thought that was the end of it."

"You think she blames you or Chloe for her daughter's death?" Chase asked.

"Possibly, but I don't see how that would be our fault. I was out in the field when it happened, and Chloe had left CTU hours before that." He leaned back. "But I know what's it like to believe your child is dead. That feeling of grief, of regret. I've been there." He shook his head. "Look, that doesn't matter right now. Getting Chloe back does. That's all we should be thinking about. Mike, call Agent Turner. Don't fill him in on all the details, just tell him to meet us near the prison tomorrow night. We're going to need all the help we can get here."

"I'm on it."

"Good. Chase, I need you to stay here and guard our guest." Chase began to protest, but Jack quickly silenced him. "Someone has to, and Michaels knows you the best. That makes you the most vulnerable." Chase glared, but didn't argue. "All right, let's get some sleep. We'll leave here tomorrow at 2100." _Hang in there, Chloe. I'll be there soon. And this time, it'll be for good. No one will ever take you away from me again._

2424242424

"Kessler here."

"It's Erin."

Colby shot up and pushed the woman on top of him away. "Get lost" he hissed. She shrugged and quickly pulled on her clothes, glaring at him before leaving. "What is it, Erin?"

"They're on to you, Colby."

"And how would you know that?"

Driscoll glanced down at some papers. "I recorded a phone conversation between one of my agents and Jack Bauer. They know you're holding Chloe in the prison, Colby. If I know Jack Bauer, he's on his way up there now to get her out."

Colby smirked. "Erin, don't worry about it. Jack Bauer won't get near her. And even if he does, it's a prison. Michaels controls everything. Now I can promise that Jack Bauer and Chloe O'Brian won't be walking out of there."

"You had better be right, Colby, or they could blow this wide open. Neither of us can afford that."

"I'll take care of everything. I never leave a job half done, you know that. You just do your part."

"I know my role. So do you. You make sure that neither of them leaves there alive" Driscoll said, hanging up.

Colby shut his phone. _It seems our turncoat agent is a little obsessed with getting payback on those two. That's not important to me, though. Her hatred serves my purposes. But if she thinks I'm going to risk my neck to keep Bauer from getting O'Brian back, she's sadly mistaken. I don't care if they get away or not, as long as I get my hands on Tyler. She and that little pissant are mine. _He chuckled. _Better get going. I am not passing this chance up. I will get you, Tyler, and when I do, I'm going to enjoy paying you back._

2424242424

"Connor, do you copy?" Jack spoke into his comm unit quietly.

"I hear you, Jack. You're coming in clear" Connor replied, focusing on his screen.

"Mike, Tyler, do you copy?"

"Copy, Jack" Tyler said. Doyle was standing by with Turner. "We're here, Jack. We're ready to move in."

"Good. Connor, how long can you keep the power off?"

"It's hard to say for sure. The prison has backup generators, and I can delay them from kicking in, but not for long. At best, you've got maybe 15 minutes."

"15 minutes?" Jack said incredulously. "That's all we've got? Dammit, Connor, that's not nearly enough time."

"I'm sorry, Jack, that's the best I can do."

Jack cursed himself for yelling at his stepson. "I'm sorry, Connor, I didn't mean it like that. I know you're doing your best."

"Don't worry about it. We're all wound up here."

"All right. I'm moving into position." Jack skirted the prison wall, taking out a patrolling guard and slipping through the wall. Once he was outside the main doors, he tapped his comm unit. "I am in position. Connor, do it now."

"Cutting power, now." Connor punched in a few keys, and grinned briefly as his computer went to work. Jack looked up as the power went out. "Move in, now." He crashed through the main doors and began sprinting through the darkened prison, heading for the infirmary.

"Stop right there!" Jack ducked to the side as two guards approached, and hid in the shadows. As they drew level with him, he thrust his elbow out, catching the nearest guard in the stomach. Jack stepped out of hiding and threw the stunned guard into his partner, knocking them both into the wall and out cold. Jack grabbed a set of keycards off one of the guards and continued through the prison, knocking out any guards he encountered. _I can't kill them. They're the good guys. _After 10 minutes, he finally reached the infirmary, stopping when he saw Chloe sleeping peacefully, her right leg in a splint. _Dammit. She can't walk out of here. Why didn't Mike tell me this? That doesn't matter right now. I have to get her out of here._

"Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here?" Jack looked up to see Dr. O'Reilly walking slowly towards him. He drew his weapon and pointed it at the doctor. "One more word, and I'll kill you, you understand?" Dr. O'Reilly nodded. "Sit down, and put your hands on your head." He complied, shaking with fear. Jack kept his weapon trained on the doctor, and turned to Chloe.

"The warden sent you, didn't he?"

Jack turned to Dr. O'Reilly in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Why else would you be here, if Warden Hollister didn't send you?"

Jack left Chloe's side and placed his weapon in the doctor's side menacingly. "You listen to me. My name is Jack Bauer. I am not working for the warden. Chloe is innocent. She does not deserve to be here."

"If she's innocent, why not let the courts decide that?"

"Because she was sent here without a trial. She's my wife. Our children were kidnapped by a terrorist, and she traded her freedom to get them back." Sensing that Dr. O'Reilly was not going to run, he holstered his weapon. "Help me get her out."

"I can't help you, Mr. Bauer. The warden's a jerk, but he runs this prison. I go against him, I'm out of a job." He thought for a second. "But if you want to get her out, I won't say a word to Hollister."

"Jack." Jack looked past Dr. O'Reilly to see Tyler standing behind him, Doyle and Turner joining her a minute later. "Jack, what are you doing? We have to go. The power will come back on at any minute."

"Right. Let's go. We got what we came for." Jack shook Chloe awake. "Chloe, wake up."

Chloe's eyes snapped open, and she relaxed only when she saw Jack. "Jack. Oh, thank god." She hugged him tightly.

"Guys, come on. Let's go" Tyler insisted. Jack made a move to help Chloe up, but stopped as the power came back on, followed by the loud ringing of alarms. "Dammit."

"I'm sorry, Jack" Connor's voice came through on Jack's comm. "I can't keep the power off any longer."

"Don't worry about that. You did great, son. We'll do the rest."

"Check the infirmary!" Doyle peeked out the door to see guards heading in their direction. "Everyone hide, now!" Jack and Turner ducked into Dr. O'Reilly's office, as did Tyler, but Doyle, who had borrowed Hartwell's uniform, stayed behind. No sooner were the others out of sight, then 2 guards busted in. "Hartwell, what are you doing here? I thought you were off this weekend."

"Change of plans" Doyle replied, looking back at Chloe.

"Ah, you wanted to get another piece of her." The first guard smirked, the turned serious. "We've got intruders. Have you seen anyone come in here?"

"Other than you two? No."

"All right. The warden thinks they might be coming here to get her. If you see anyone suspicious, you know what to do. Jackson, stay here with Hartwell and keep an eye on the prisoner."

"Yes, sir." The 2nd guard moved next to Doyle, his eyes on Chloe. Once the first guard had left, Doyle slowly slipped behind the distracted guard and put him in a sleeper hold, holding on for long minutes as his victim slipped into unconsciousness. Once he was out, Jack, Tyler and Turner came out of hiding. "Now what do we do?" Tyler inquired.

"Hal, put his uniform on." Turner dragged the unconscious guard into the other and came out a couple minutes later in his clothing. "What now?"

"Tyler and I will create a diversion, and lure them away from here. Wait 5 minutes, then take Chloe out of here. If anyone stops you, tell them you were ordered by the warden to move

her. Go back to the motel, and wait for us. If we don't return by tomorrow, take Chloe back to LA."

"All right." Doyle grasped Jack's hand. "Jack, please be careful. Both of you."

Jack nodded, then slowly opened the door, sneaking past the 3 guards a few feet away, Tyler following right behind. They had gotten a short distance, when Jack fired his weapon in the air, causing the guards to turn around and chase after them. Jack and Tyler sprinted through the prison, occasionally making noise to keep the guards on their trail. They got close to the exit when they had the misfortune to nearly run into a group of guards. Tyler grabbed Jack and dragged him into a closet.

"We know you're here somewhere! Come out with your hands on your head!"

"Dammit, we're trapped" Jack cursed, glaring at Tyler.

Tyler returned his glare. "Oh, no. Don't you dare put this on me, Jack" she hissed.

Jack ignored her, and looked at the door. _How are we going to get out of this one?_


	12. I run this prison

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 12

Doyle glanced at his watch. "It's been 5 minutes. Time to go." He and Turner helped Chloe up out of bed and helped her get dressed. Doyle pulled out a pair of cuffs and cuffed Chloe's hands in front of her. "Sorry about this, Chloe, but we have to make it look real." She nodded, and he grabbed her arm gently. "Come on, Hal, help me." Turner grabbed her other arm and they slowly made their way out of the infirmary, heading down the deserted corridors. _So far, so good. Jack's doing his part. _They were 20 feet from the south exit when they ran into a lone guard. "Why are you moving that prisoner? We have intruders, and all prisoners are to remain in their cells."

"We're under orders from the warden to move this prisoner to a secure location" Turner spoke up.

"What orders? The warden gave specific instructions regarding that prisoner. She is to remain in the infirmary."

_We don't have time for this. _Doyle glared at the guard. "Are you countermanding our orders?" He pulled out his cell phone. "I'll call Hollister, and tell him you're interfering." He punched in the first couple of numbers, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. "All right, I believe you." The guard glanced behind him. "You need some help?"

"No. But I think I saw them near the west exit. If you hurry, they might still be there."

The guard nodded and ran off. Once he was gone, Doyle and Turner began moving, making their way out of the exit, and to their waiting transport. Doyle unlocked the cuffs and placed Chloe in the backseat, taking care to make sure she wouldn't be hurt. "You might want to hold onto something. This is going to be a rough ride." Chloe grabbed onto the seat and held on for dear life. Doyle shut the door and got into the front seat. "Let's go."

"What about Jack and Tyler?" Chloe asked.

"We can't wait for them" Turner told her. "Jack told us not to. We have to go, now." Without waiting for a response, he fired up the engine, and sped out of the parking lot. They drove in silence for 10 minutes, when Turner's cell rang and he answered it quietly. He scowled as he listened to the voice on the other end. "All right, fine. I'll be there soon." He hung up quickly. "That was Director Harricks. He's calling us in."

"Now?" Doyle asked, glancing at Chloe. "You think they know about our break-in?"

"They have to. The timing's too close to be a coincidence." Turner looked in his rearview mirror, checking to make sure they weren't being followed. Fortunately, the road was deserted, and he stopped the transport outside the motel, letting Doyle and Chloe get out. "I'll see you in a few days."

"Hal, wait" Chloe said quietly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I... just wanted to thank you for helping me get out of there."

Turner gave her a brief smile. "Chloe, after all the times you helped us get out of trouble, you think any one of us would stand by while you were in trouble? You have no idea how much we all hated to see you leave." He glanced at his watch. "I gotta go back to work. I'll see you later." He turned his vehicle around and left, leaving Chloe alone with Doyle. "Come on, let's go inside before someone sees us" she remarked, taking a quick step. She almost instantly regretted it as a sharp pain ran through her good leg, and she collapsed on the ground.

"Careful, Chloe. You're going to hurt yourself even worse." Doyle quickly helped her up. Seeing no other option, he scooped Chloe up in his arms and carried her up the 2 flights of stairs and outside their room. Setting her down, he drew his weapon and slowly walked into the room, checking for intruders. He relaxed as he only found Chase, who was keeping a close eye on their captive.

"Mike, you're back. How'd it go? Did you get her?"

Doyle holstered his weapon. "We did. She's outside."

"What about Jack? Is he okay? Where's Tyler?"

"They stayed behind to create a diversion, so we could get Chloe out of there."

Chase got in Doyle's face. "What? Dammit, Mike, she's my wife. And Jack is my friend. How could you leave them behind?"

Doyle quickly stepped back. "It wasn't my call, Chase. Look, Tyler can take care of herself. So can Jack. They'll be fine."

"Are you guys just going to leave me out here?" Chloe's voice drifted through the rooms, breaking up their argument. Chase shot a glare at Doyle, then followed him through the sitting room, stopping when he saw Chloe trying to stand up. Chase bent down and helped her up, pulling her into a hug. "I'm so glad you're safe, Chloe. I missed you."

"I missed you too, Chase" she replied, then let go of him and sank down into the lone chair. "Now what?"

"We wait. They'll be looking for us, so we need to lay low for a while. We'll leave tomorrow morning."

Chloe shook her head. "We need to find Jack and Tyler. I'm not leaving until they come back."

Chase merely sat down on the beaten couch. "Chloe, we can't stay here for long. Michaels has the entire prison under his control. We're just lucky they didn't follow you two here." He thought for a minute. "We'll wait 3 days. If Jack and Tyler don't show up by then, we're going back to LA."

Chloe began to protest, but Doyle silenced her. "Chloe, Jack and Tyler risked their lives to get you out of there. You want to waste their efforts?"

"...No." She looked down. "How are the kids?"

"They're okay. Connor's watching them."

She smiled briefly, then looked up. "I want to talk to him." Doyle handed her his cell, and began to leave, but Chloe stopped him. She dialed the number and waited for a response. "Yeah."

"Connor, it's Chloe."

"Chloe? Are you okay? Did they get you out?"

"Yes, Connor, they got me out. I'm free."

"Thank god." He said nothing more and Chloe could hear his breathing. "Connor? You still there?"

"Yeah" he replied, his voice choked with emotion. "I'm here, Chloe. I... I just don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, son. We'll have plenty of time to talk when I come back to LA. I just wanted you to know that I was out."

Connor cleared his throat. "When are you coming back?"

"As soon as I can. We still have some business to take care of here. The moment we get back, I'll call you."

"All right. Goodbye, Chloe."

"Goodbye, son." Chloe hung up, then handed Doyle back his cell. "Thank you." She was about to lay down, when she heard a thump in the bedroom, followed by muffled curses. "What was that?"

Doyle and Chase looked at each other warily. Chloe scowled. "Answer my question. Who's here?"

Doyle looked down. "The guard who assaulted you."

2424242424

Jack peeked out the door of the closet he and Tyler had hidden in, ducking back when he saw a full contingent of guards gathered near their hiding place, Michaels right in the middle. _We're outnumbered 20 to 1. They're going to find us eventually. _He shot a glare at Tyler, who was merely waiting. "What now, Tyler?" he hissed quietly, "You trapped us in here, now how do we get out?"

Tyler looked back at him angrily. "I told you not to put this on me, Jack. I'm thinking of something."

"Dammit, Tyler, there are at least 40 guards out there, waiting to put a bullet in us the second we show our faces. If you have any ideas, tell me now."

"Jack-"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, SHE'S GONE?!"

Jack jerked up at Michaels' roar and peeked back out the door. Michaels was chewing out one of the guards. "How could she escape? What happened?"

"I don't know, sir. I went to the infirmary to move her to the hole, and she was gone. Jackson was on the ground, out cold."

"Dammit!" Michaels turned away from the guard in rage. "All of you, spread out. I don't care what you have to do, but find her!" The guards scattered, leaving Michaels alone. _Finally. _Motioning to Tyler, he slowly slipped out of the closet and snuck up on him. In one swift move, he grabbed Michaels and pinned him to the ground. Tyler jumped in and grabbed Michaels' cuffs, locking his hands behind his back. "Make a sound, and I will kill you, you understand?" she growled.

"Let me go, or I will have this entire prison on you in a second."

"Shut up" Jack barked, hauling him to his feet and gagging him. Tyler pointed her weapon at his back. "Move."

Seeing no other option, Michaels began walking. Jack led him through the prison and down to the interrogation rooms, locking Michaels into one of the chairs and sitting across from him. Tyler holstered her weapon, then backhanded him.

"Tyler, stop."

"No, Jack" she replied. "He needs to pay for what he did to Chloe."

"And he will. But let me handle this."

Tyler scowled. "Look at him, Jack. He went to all this trouble to get his hands on Chloe. You think he's going to talk to us?"

"Yes, I do."

_He really believes it. _"Fine, but if you can't make him talk, I will." She moved to the door, keeping an eye out for any guards. Jack turned to Michaels and removed the gag from his mouth, bringing his weapon out in case Michaels tried anything. "This is over, Michaels. You've hurt my family enough.

Michaels merely stared back at Jack, his eyes flicking briefly to the weapon in his hand. "Are you going to kill me, Bauer?"

"Maybe."

Michaels smirked. "You want to, don't you?" Jack didn't respond. "Yes, you do. I can see it in your eyes, Bauer. You hate me for what I did to her."

"It's not just what you did to Chloe" Jack growled. "You ordered my children kidnapped. They were innocent, Michaels."

"I didn't order them kidnapped" Michaels replied. "I just told Kessler to get me O'Brian. It was his idea. I would have much preferred to leave them out of this."

"That doesn't change the fact that you were involved in this. Not only that, you stood by and let Chloe be assaulted. How dare you. Do you have any idea what she's been through in the past 5 years?"

"I've heard a few things."

Jack fought back his growing rage at Michaels' calm demeanor and stared for a minute before continuing. "You don't know anything. But I'm not going to waste my time telling you."

"What's the matter, Bauer? No long speech about how I wronged you?" Michaels leaned back. "So, if you're not going to kill me, and you're not going to bore me with a long speech, then what are you doing?"

Jack stood up. "We're going to walk out of here. You're going to order the guards to stand down, and let us go. Then you're going back to prison."

Michaels laughed. "You are in no position to be demanding anything from me. In case you've forgotten, I run this prison."

"Not for long. I told you this is over." Jack began to move towards Michaels, but stopped as shouts came drifting in from down the hall.

"Jack, we've got company" Tyler said, coming up to him, drawing her weapon. The 2 turned to face the door as it burst in. To their surprise, Turner came through first, followed by several CTU agents. "Put your weapons down, now!" Turner called out, silently signaling to Jack. Jack faintly nodded, and put his weapon down, his hands in the air. Tyler did the same, although reluctantly. The CTU agents rushed to Michaels and unlocked his restraints, letting him get up.

"Agent... Turner, was it? These two were caught breaking in to this facility. I want them arrested." Michaels began walking out, but stopped, and without warning, launched himself at Jack. Jack had no time to raise his defenses, and was taken down, absorbing a few quick blows, before he came to his senses, and began a counter attack, trading blows with Michaels, until he felt the other man grabbing for his weapon. Jack got there first, and wrestled for control of the gun fiercely. The CTU agents looked on, Turner signaling them to stand down.

One of the agents made a move to break it up, but Turner quickly stopped him. "Sir, what are you doing? The warden-"

"No. Let them settle it" Turner replied, and the agent stepped back. A few agonizing minutes passed, when the weapon the two men were fighting over sounded twice, and Michaels let go of Jack quickly, falling limply to the floor.


	13. Dirty work

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 13

Jack watched Michaels fall, and lay down on the floor, exhausted. _I'm getting too old for this. _His rest didn't last long, however, as he found himself surrounded by CTU agents. He didn't resist as he was hauled up and slammed against the wall by Turner. Tyler was forced down on the ground and cuffed by several agents.

"You're under arrest, Jack" Turner said, cuffing him forcefully, leaning in to search Jack for weapons. "Play along, and I'll get you both out of this and back to her." Jack faintly nodded, and found himself marched out of the interrogation room by 2 agents.

"Hey! Get your hands off me!" Tyler hollered.

"Ma'am, please don't make this harder than it has to be" another agent told her quietly.

"Harder? You're arresting us! How could it be harder?"

"Tyler." She looked over at Jack, who was shaking his head. "Tyler, don't. Let's just go back to CTU and get this squared away."

"Sir!" Turner turned around to look at the agent who had called for him. "This man is an impostor."

"What are you talking about?"

"Sir, I used to work for the DC unit years ago. Unless I'm very much mistaken, this man was the former director of the unit, Peter Michaels."

"So?" Turner was confused.

"Sir, Peter Michaels was fired and sent to prison for stealing classified intelligence. We need to take the body back to CTU and ID it to make sure."

Turner nodded. "All right, Collier." Turning to the other agents, he silenced them quickly. "Listen up! Colver, you and Stokes stay here and help get this place back in order. The rest of you, head back to CTU. Collier, Espen and I will accompany the prisoners back to CTU for interrogation. Move out!"

Jack was marched out of the interrogation rooms by Turner and Espen, Collier leading Tyler behind them. They were stopped halfway out the prison by the deputy warden. "Are these the intruders?"

"Yes, they are. We're taking them back to CTU for interrogation."

"CTU? This is an internal matter, sir. We have jurisdiction here, not you."

Turner glared at the man. "These two are part of a CTU investigation. Which means we have jurisdiction over you. Once we're done, you can have them back."

The deputy stood his ground. "I'm calling Hollister. He'll settle this."

"Hollister is dead. He was killed in the break-in. It's being investigated by CTU. Now stand down."

"Who killed him?"

"That's what we're going to find out. I want all surveillance footage from the previous few weeks sent to CTU for analysis." Seeing the doubt flicker over the deputy's face, Turner moved in for the kill. "Deputy Chalmers, I can assure you that whoever is responsible for this will be brought to justice. But we can't do that if you don't stand down and let us do our jobs. Now please step aside."

The deputy mulled over Turner's words for a minute, then stepped aside and let the CTU agents continue on their way out of the prison. Jack and Tyler were loaded into a transport and secured inside. Espen took the wheel, starting up the transport and leading the way back to CTU.

None of the agents noticed the figure in the shadows watching their departure, a dissatisfied scowl on his face. The scowl deepened as he saw Michaels' body being carried out and loaded into another transport. _That idiot. He screwed up. _Once the last of the transports had left, Colby stepped out of the shadows and growled in frustration. _Dammit! She got away from me. And she's surrounded by feds. I'll never get my hands on her now. Unless... yes. They're taking her back to CTU. No way to get to her in there. But if she were released, she'd be exposed._ He smirked, his bad mood gone. _Fortunately, I have an out here. And she'll do whatever I ask her to. _Colby glanced back at the prison, which was buzzing with activity. _No need to stick around here anymore. With Michaels out of the way, I'm not risking my neck getting caught._

Colby slipped through a breach in the wall only he and Michaels knew about and walked the short distance to his car, firing it up and driving off. Once the prison was out of sight, he pulled out his cell phone and called Driscoll. "Erin, it's Colby."

"You have a lot of nerve to be calling me, Colby, after how badly you just screwed up. CTU has Jack now. You'll never get to him in there."

Colby rolled his eyes. "Oh, give me a break, Erin. I told Michaels not to underestimate Bauer, and he didn't listen to me. So if you're looking to blame someone, don't look at me."

Driscoll scowled. "Don't talk to me like that. I did everything you needed me to do. Now this whole operation has been ruined, and CTU is going to find out about my role."

"Well, you have to make sure they don't find out. But I do have a bit of good news. Michaels is dead. He could have pointed the finger at us. But that's not going to happen now." Colby put his phone on speaker and set it down, digging through his glove compartment for a few minutes, coming out with a keycard. "I need you to do one more thing."

"No. I'm out, Colby. Find someone else to do your dirty work."

"You want to see O'Brian and Bauer dead? Then do what I'm asking you to do."

Driscoll sighed. "What do you need me to do?"

"Bauer and Anderson are being taken to CTU. Find a way to get them cleared of the charges, and have them sent back to LA. They'll be perfect targets once they're back in LA. That's when I'll strike. With Bauer out of the way, O'Brian will be easy to get to. We'll both get what we want."

"I don't have any authority over San Francisco, Colby. You know that."

Colby scoffed. "That hasn't stopped you before, has it? Make it happen, Erin, or you know what will happen."

"Are you threatening me, Colby?"

"Maybe. We both know you have more to lose than I do." He glanced briefly at the keycard in his hand, before sticking it in the card reader next to his seat. "I'm sending you the override protocols you need. You call me the second you find out anything." Colby hung up, and turned his attention back to the road. _This is just a minor setback, Tyler. You will be mine._

2424242424

"What?" Chloe almost shrieked. "You brought him here?"

"We didn't have a choice, Chloe" Chase interjected, trying to calm her down. "We had to kidnap him to get into the prison."

"Oh, that makes me feel a lot better" she snapped, then looked down. "What are you going to do with him?"

"That's up to you, Chloe" Doyle told her. Chloe looked at him in surprise. "He assaulted you, you decide."

"Does Jack know?"

"Yes, he does. He went ballistic when he found out, and almost killed him."

Chloe sat back and began rubbing her forehead wearily. _What are we going to do now?_

"Chloe, what happened to you in there?" Chase asked. "You're injured."

Chloe glanced at her splinted leg, touching it gingerly, surprised when she didn't feel any pain. She didn't feel anything at all. _That's not good. Not good at all. _"I wasn't tortured, like I thought I would be. They put me to work."

"What kind of work?"

"Nothing with computers, or anything like that. It was physical labor- digging trenches, hauling debris, stuff like that. Normally, stuff like that would be hard for me on two good legs. But mine were weak, and after a month of labor, standing up for almost 20 hours a day, 6 days a week, they just couldn't take anymore strain. I was working in the yard, clearing debris, when I took a step, and my leg snapped, and I fell down. Michaels tried to force me to work on it, but the doctor stood up to him for me. He kept me in the infirmary until you guys came for me."

"But that wasn't the worst of it. About a week after I got to the prison, the man you kidnapped was on duty, and he had been assigned specifically to guard me. He took me out of my cell in the middle of the night and marched me into an interrogation room. At first I thought it was just going to be another interrogation session with Michaels, like I had gone through before, but he called in several of his friends and had them hold me down while he... assaulted me. And not just once, but several times, until he finally finished with me and ordered me back to my cell."

"Michaels found out about it a couple days later and hauled me into his office. He yelled at me for causing trouble, and that he wasn't going to condone a prisoner making unfounded accusations against any of the guards. I tried to protest that my accusations were true, but he didn't want to hear it. I spent the next 3 days in the hole, and another 3 days on total lockdown. After I got out, I was given a cellmate, someone to 'keep me busy'. I was so scared, but as it turned out, my cellmate wasn't like that. She kept an eye on me, making sure I was okay. She helped protect me one night when the guard came around again for some more 'entertainment'."

She looked up a few minutes later. "I want to see our guest."

"Are you sure? Chloe, you just got out of prison. You should get some sleep."

"Yes, I'm sure, Chase, and I don't want to get some sleep. Take me to him now." The look on her face told the two men that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. Chase shrugged and helped Chloe up, leading her into the bedroom where Hartwell was kneeling on the floor, his hands and feet bound behind his back. He looked up as Chloe came in, and smirked slightly. "Well, this is certainly a surprise. I don't know how you got out of there, O'Brian, but I have a feeling that doesn't matter."

Chloe didn't say anything._ I am not going to let him bait me. _"Chase, bring that chair over here." Chase did as she asked, and she sat down gratefully, her eyes fixed on the captive Hartwell. Hartwell met her stare. "So, have you come back for another round? Was the first time not enough for you?"

"Shut up!" Doyle snapped, kicking Hartwell in the stomach.

"Mike, don't" Chloe said forcefully. Doyle looked over at her questioningly. "I want to talk to him. Once I'm done, you can do what you want to him."

"Chloe-"

Chloe glared furiously at Chase. "Chase, don't interfere. Look at him. He can't hurt me, not anymore." She turned back to Hartwell. "You can stay in the room if you want, just to make sure I'm safe. But don't interrupt us."

Chase drew his weapon, but stepped back to the corner of the room, Doyle following right behind, the eyes of both men on their friend. Chloe took a deep breath, then spoke. "You know you're not walking out of here, right?"

Hartwell didn't respond, and Chloe leaned close to him. "You honestly think these guys won't kill you for what you did to me? Even if I could stop them, which I won't, my husband would rip you apart."

"Am I supposed to be scared, O'Brian? Your husband already tried to rip me apart. I'm still alive. He's weak. My father used to hurt me worse than he did." The smirk remained on his face. "Even if I die, that doesn't change what we had that night. Boy, were you feisty."

Chloe felt her temper rising and struggled to regain her composure. "You sick, pathetic, little bastard."

Hartwell shifted uncomfortably. "What's the matter, O'Brian? Truth hurt? Or did you not enjoy it?"

"You assaulted me, you arrogant slimeball" she hissed.

"That's your interpretation now. As I recall, you seemed to enjoy it back then. I bet I was better than that worthless husband of yours." The smirk was rapidly wiped off Hartwell's face as Chloe sprang out her chair and tackled him to the ground, his head slamming against the hard floor. The blow stunned him, and with his hands and feet bound, Hartwell was helpless to fight Chloe off. She wrapped her hands around his neck and began choking him mercilessly. Chase made a move to pull her back, but Doyle stopped him. Long minutes passed as Chloe maintained her grip, the rage in her blood flowing freely. "Don't you ever insult my husband! He's a thousand times the man you'll ever be! You hear me?!"

Hartwell didn't respond. "Did you hear me?!" Chloe screamed at him, her grip ironclad. When he didn't respond, Chloe reluctantly let go, and the captive man lay on the ground, unmoving. Doyle quickly moved to his side, checking for a pulse. He looked up a minute later and shook his head. "He's dead."


	14. Aiding and abetting

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 14

The stark, imposing building that housed the San Francisco CTU towered over Jack as the transport he was riding in slowed to a stop in the parking lot adjacent to the building. Jack was released from his restraints temporarily and led out of the transport, where his hands were recuffed behind his back. He was walked through the main doors, his head bent down, avoiding the stares of the CTU agents as he and Tyler were walked through the bullpen and down into the lower levels of CTU.

"Agent Turner, welcome back" the director of CTU, Calvin Harricks, greeted Turner solemnly.

"Thank you, sir."

"I take it these are the suspects who broke into Bridgetown?"

"Yes, sir, they are." Turner turned to the door to the interrogation room and punched in his authorization code, opening the door and leading the former agents inside. Jack found himself being sat down and firmly secured to one of the chairs. Tyler was secured across from him, and Turner walked back out, closing the door behind him.

"What's going on, Agent Turner?"

"Sir, we have a problem."

Harricks merely looked at Turner. "What kind of problem?"

"The warden was killed in the break-in."

"What? What are you talking about? What happened?"

Turner shifted a bit. "We tracked Bauer and Anderson to the interrogation rooms. They had the warden captive and were questioning him, apparently. We took them into custody and were taking them away when the warden attacked Bauer without warning. We tried to break them up, but they kept on fighting. At one point, Bauer got ahold of a weapon and both men were fighting over it when it went off and the warden was killed."

Harricks absorbed what Turner had told him, and he gave the agent a questioning look. "Is there something you're not telling me, Agent Turner?"

"Sir?"

"Hal, you've only been here a few months, but I can tell when you're hiding something from me. Now what is it?"

Turner glanced back at the interrogation room. "We have reason to believe the warden was an impostor."

Harricks was confused. "An impostor?"

"Yes. One of the men apparently recognized him. He claimed that the warden was the former director of the DC unit, a man named Peter Michaels."

"I-I'm sorry, did you say Peter Michaels?"

Turner looked at Harricks suspiciously. "You know him?"

Harricks shook his head. "Not personally, but I've heard of him. He was accused of stealing classified information when he ran the DC unit, and sent to prison." He stopped and thought. "Hal, are you telling me that Michaels somehow got out of prison, and impersonated a prison warden?"

"That's the working theory, sir. We brought the body of the warden back to ID."

"All right. Cross-check his vitals against Michaels' information."

"It's already being taken care of, sir."

"Good." Harricks looked past Turner at the door to the interrogation room. "Now there's the matter of those two. From what little evidence we have, it seems they broke into Bridgetown to get to the warden. Have either of them had any dealings with Michaels? Worked for him, or anything like that?"

Turner shook his head. "No, neither of them have. Michaels was a DC guy, and Bauer's worked for LA his entire career. The other one, Anderson, she was CIA. She claims that she never met him until tonight."

"What about family?"

"Not that I'm aware of, but I'll have Kyle look into it if you want, sir."

"Do that. Get back to me when you have any more information. I'll be in my office. In the meantime, those two are to be held here." Harricks turned and left to return to his office. Once he was gone, Turner slumped against the wall, sighing with relief. _That was close. But he's going to find out sooner or later. Best thing I can do to get Jack out of this is play along for now. _He pulled out his phone.

"CTU, Sanderson."

"Kyle, it's Hal. I need you to do something for me."

"Okay. What do you need, sir?"

"I need you to access the personnel records of 2 former government agents: Jack Bauer and Tyler Anderson. I want all the details you can dig up sent to my system as soon as possible."

The young analyst began typing. "Did Harricks clear this?"

"Yes, he did. If you don't believe me, you can call and ask him."

"I'll get right on it, sir."

Turner hung up and leaned against the wall for a few minutes, weighing his options. _If I don't play along, and Harricks finds out, we're all going to be in big trouble. But Jack and Tyler could be in worse trouble if I do. _He headed back into the interrogation room. Jack looked up as he approached. "Hal, what's going on?"

"Harricks knows about Michaels being an impostor. He's looking into it right now."

Tyler merely stared at him. "Can you trust him?"

"Yes, I can. He's fair. He plays by the rules most of the time, but he's not afraid to bend protocol if it gets the job done. But that's not why I'm here. I told you I would take care of things here, and I will. It'll just take some time."

Jack didn't look at Turner, his mind elsewhere. "Did you get her to the motel?"

"Yes, I did, Jack. She's safe. Chase and Mike are there. They won't let anything happen to her." Turner made a move to leave, but stopped as his phone rang, and he answered it, his expression lifting as he listened in. "All right. Thanks, Kyle. Send it to Harricks." He hung up. "Just sit tight, and you'll be out of here. I'll be back later." Turner left the holding room and proceeded to Harrick's office. Sanderson was waiting for him, along with Harricks. "What have you got, Kyle?"

"I think I've found a connection between Bauer, Anderson, and Michaels."

"What kind of connection?"

"This woman." Sanderson brought up a CTU dossier on Chloe. Turner struggled to contain his shock. _That was fast. How did he get that so quickly?_

Harricks glanced at the screen. "Chloe O'Brian? Who is she?"

"She was an analyst for the LA unit for about 7 years, and for the DC unit for 3 years before that. According to this, she's had a rocky history with CTU- arrested 4 times, suspended a few more times, even resigned one time after being arrested. There are also numerous reports of insubordination, several dozen instances of protocol violations, hundreds of official complaints about her behavior." Sanderson cracked his neck. "How she stayed employed at CTU after all this is beyond me."

Harricks was not impressed. "So? You've got a former CTU analyst with behavioral problems. How is she connected to those 3?"

Sanderson pulled up another file. "Chloe O'Brian and Jack Bauer have been married for almost 2 years now, with 3 children. And Tyler Anderson is O'Brian's sister."

"What about Michaels?"

"O'Brian worked for him in DC, until Michaels was sent to prison."

Harricks stared at the information. "Where's O'Brian now?"

Sanderson shrugged. "I don't know, sir. The only people who could tell you that are sitting in Holding right now."

"All right, Kyle. Keep looking and see what else you can dig up. Hal, go interrogate Bauer and Anderson. See what you can come up with."

Turner shook his head. "That's going to be a waste of time, sir." Harricks glared at him, and he stepped back. "Think about it. You have 2 former field agents trained to resist forceful interrogation. Our best bet is to keep looking here."

"Hal, you know as well as I do that everyone has a breaking point."

"Not Jack Bauer. He spent 20 months in a Chinese prison and didn't break. Anderson wouldn't be any easier."

Harricks took one more look at the information Sanderson had provided. "Kyle, check the prison records from the time Michaels arrived there. Look for any suspicious transfers in and out of Bridgetown, anything that might flag."

"Yes, sir." Sanderson left, leaving Turner and Harricks alone. "What are you thinking, sir?"

"It's just a hunch, Hal, and I want to see what Kyle digs up before I say anything else."

"Yes, sir." Turner sat down to wait for Sanderson to finish up, refusing to look at Harricks. _When he finds out that she was transferred to Bridgetown, we're all going to be in deep trouble. _He looked up a few minutes later as Sanderson came back up, walking into the office. "Well?"

"Take a look at this, sir." Sanderson brought up a flagged document. "This transfer was noted in the prison records about a month ago. It states that a female prisoner was brought in to the prison. Normally, that's no big deal, but the record doesn't list a name or the prisoner's offense."

Harricks frowned. "Does it give a description of the prisoner?"

"Yes, sir. According to this, she's 5-5, slender build, brown hair-"

"Physical characteristics that could be attributed to O'Brian?"

Sanderson shifted his screen to Chloe's dossier. "It's a perfect match, sir."

Harricks nodded. "Thank you, Kyle. Send everything you found to Director Reilly, then you can get back to work." Sanderson left to get back to work, and Harricks turned to Turner. "Seems like my hunch paid off. O'Brian was in Bridgetown, and Bauer and Anderson broke in to get her out, killing a former CTU director in the process."

Turner shifted a bit. "What's the plan, sir?"

"We confront them with that, and find out why." Harricks began walking out. "Come with me. I want you sitting in on this."

"Yes, sir." Turner followed Harricks down to the holding rooms, punching in his code and joining Jack and Tyler, neither of whom looked up as the two entered.

"Why don't we just get right to it?" Harricks asked. "We know you broke into Bridgetown, and now we know why. It was to get Chloe O'Brian out of there." The shocked looks on both Jack and Tyler's faces told Harricks everything he needed to know. "As federal agents, you know how serious a crime aiding and abetting a felon is."

"She's not a felon. Chloe didn't do anything wrong" Jack growled. Tyler merely stared at Harricks.

"She was in Bridgetown, a maximum security facility."

"Chloe did nothing wrong" he repeated.

"Then why was she there?"

Jack looked down. "About a month ago, our children were kidnapped by a former CIA agent. Chloe traded her freedom to get them back safely. That's why she was there."

Harricks looked at Jack curiously. "Okay, say that's true. Why didn't you just go through proper channels to get her out of there?

"We didn't know who we could trust" Tyler replied.

"That doesn't excuse what you did" Harricks stated. "You two are in so much trouble right now, you'll be lucky to get 30 years behind bars." He was interrupted by his phone ringing. "Harricks."

"Yes, sir, that's true."

"No, sir."

"We haven't taken any action yet, sir."

"What? Are you sure?"

"No, sir, I'm not questioning your orders."

"Yes, sir. It'll be taken care of right away."

"Yes, sir, I'll pass that along."

"Thank you, sir."

"Yes, he's here. I'll put him on for you." He handed the phone to Jack. "Seems you have some well-connected friends, Mr. Bauer. Director Reilly wants to speak to you."


	15. Denver

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 15

_"He's dead." _Doyle's words rang through Chloe's mind as she slumped down on the floor, her eyes fixed on the unmoving Hartwell. The burning rage she had felt disappeared, replaced by shock. _He's dead. I killed him. He was defenseless, and I killed him._

"Chloe" Chase called out, trying to get her attention. Chloe didn't look up, continuing to stare in horror at what she had done. "I... I... I killed him."

Chase touched her on the shoulder, causing Chloe to turn her attention towards him. "It's okay, Chloe. It's okay."

"Chase-" Chloe tried to speak, but stopped as an intense wave of nausea hit her. Blindly reaching around, she grabbed a nearby wastebasket and threw up, emptying the meager contents of her stomach into the wastebasket. She discarded the wastebasket to the side and began sobbing loudly. "I killed him. I'm a murderer."

Doyle bent down next to her. "You are not a murderer, Chloe."

"Yes, I am. I just killed a defenseless man. That's murder."

Chase put his hand back on her shoulder. "Chloe, listen to me. You are not a killer. You wouldn't be feeling remorse right now if you were. Besides, you know he wasn't walking out of here, right?"

Chloe didn't look at him. "If you're trying to make me feel better, Chase, you're doing a really bad job of it." She slowly crawled up and crawled into bed. "Just leave me alone."

"No, Chloe. We're not leaving you alone."

Doyle glanced down at the body, then looked at Chase. "Chase, go get some food. There's a convenience store a couple blocks away."

"Why?"

"Well, for starters, I'm hungry. But I need to talk to her alone. Please."

Chase stood up and pointed a finger in Doyle's chest. "Don't let anything happen to her." He left, and Doyle sat down on the bed next to Chloe. "Look at me, Chloe." She turned around to look at him. "I know you're hurting. I know how you feel."

"No, you don't, Mike."

"Yes, I do. Right now, all you want to do is crawl in a hole and waste away, right? You hate yourself for snapping and killing a defenseless man. And you believe the pain you feel at what you've done will never go away."

Chloe looked away, his words hitting her hard. "Am I right?" he questioned.

"...Yeah. How did you know?"

"Because I've been there." Chloe looked at him in surprise. "I've been in Spec Ops for years, Chloe. I've had to deal with situations just like this more than once." He shot a quick look at the dead guard. "Did Milo ever tell you about what happened between us in Denver?"

"No. I'd never even heard of you until you came to LA. And it's not like we had any time to talk about it, Mike, with everything that was happening that day. What happened?"

"...When I was named Head of Field Ops, it was my first time with CTU. I had just gotten back from Afghanistan, and I was eager to prove I could do the job. Milo had also just recently arrived, so he and I became friends. Now you have to understand that Denver was different from LA. Everyone there was more concerned with their own careers than they were with doing their job. I couldn't trust anyone, except for Milo. He and I were the only ones that cared about what we were doing. Back then, we were as close as two friends could be. He even let me date his sister after a while."

"A couple years later, I was sent on assignment to bring down a supremacist group that was causing trouble for us. I did my job. The group was disbanded, and most of their leadership was arrested. Anyway, it turned out that the leader of the group we arrested was Milo's father. I was assigned to interrogate him, and find out what he was up to. You've seen enough interrogations to know they aren't pleasant, so Milo made me promise not to go too far. I said I would try not to lose my temper."

"While I was interrogating him, he kept baiting me, calling me every name you could think of. I tried to ignore him, and focus on getting information, but at one point, he went too far, and insulted my family. I instantly snapped and began choking him. It took 4 agents along with Milo to pull me off, but by that time, Milo's father was dead. I had done what was for me the unthinkable: Not only had I killed a defenseless man, I had also broken my promise to Milo. My word means everything to me, so the fact that I had broken it was just as horrible as the killing I had done."

"Milo dragged me out and went off on me for what I had done. He said he'd never forgive me for killing his father, and that I was just another worthless thug. I just stood there and let him vent, because I couldn't do anything else. After he had stopped yelling at me, he told me he never wanted to see me again, and if I knew what was good for me, I would get out of Denver, and stay away from his family. His sister was the same way. She broke it off with me, and told me if I ever came near her again, she'd kill me."

"I had lost everything because I snapped- a 2 year friendship, the woman I cared about, all the respect I had earned- all of it, gone in a second. CTU didn't take any action against me, because I had killed a suspect, but I was transferred out of Denver and sent back to Afghanistan. There wasn't any time for me to work through what I had done, so I pushed it aside, losing myself in my job, hoping that the pain I felt would go away by itself."

"But it didn't. I just became more violent, killing without a second thought, reveling in the chaos. Until one day, when my unit was sent into a village to capture a rebel leader. To get away, he started a riot, and it was total chaos. I don't know everything that happened, but when everything finally settled, I was the only survivor. The rest of my unit had been killed, but so had the entire village. Not one person survived. Whole families, gone."

"I was so horrified by what had happened. Everything had changed for me, and I spent years searching for answers. I tried everything I could think of, but nothing worked. The anger I felt wouldn't leave, and I got bounced from one post to another. When I came to LA, I thought for sure that it was going to be more of the same- I'd come in, piss everyone off, then get sent somewhere else. Seeing Milo again didn't help matters, either. He still hated me for what I had done, and I didn't blame him."

"The more time I spent at CTU, though, the more I found myself belonging. Despite the personal problems that were going on, everyone there was dedicated to doing their job. There wasn't any of the backstabbing and politics that there was at Denver. And Nadia. After I was injured, and almost lost my sight, she came to see me every day. I tried to push her away, like I did everyone else, but she refused to leave me until I got my sight back. And during our time together, she helped me calm the rage I had felt for years. Now look what's happened. Everything I had lost, I found again."

Doyle stopped. "I guess what I'm trying to say, Chloe, is, don't let what happened to me happen to you. You're in pain, but don't let that pain eat you up. You have friends. Talk to us. Don't bottle your feelings up. Anytime you need to talk, do it."

Chloe sniffed, then gave him a brief smile. "Thanks, Mike. Thank you for telling me what happened, and for getting me out of prison. I owe you." She suddenly yawned. "I'm tired. I'm going to sleep."

"All right. I'll get rid of him. You just get some rest. We might have to move at any time."

"I will." Chloe lay down and quickly fell asleep._ Please, Jack. Come back. I miss you. I need you._

2424242424

"Director Reilly?" Jack asked. "Who's he?"

"He's the national director of CTU. And he wants to speak to you, Mr. Bauer."

"Put it on speaker" Jack said.

Harricks set the phone down in front of Jack. "Mr. Reilly, this is Jack Bauer. You're on speaker. I was told you wanted to speak to me, sir?"

"Yes. And I want to speak to you alone. Calvin, you still there?"

"Yes, sir" Harricks replied.

"Release Mr. Bauer and Ms. Anderson from their restraints and give them some privacy."

"Yes, sir." Harricks motioned to Turner, who unlocked both Jack and Tyler's restraints, then followed his boss out of the holding room. Once they were alone, Jack turned back to the phone. "Okay, we're alone."

"Good" Reilly said. "Look, Mr. Bauer, I don't believe in beating around the bush, so I'm just going to get right to it. I know about everything that's happened tonight. You and your friends broke into prison to break Chloe O'Brian out. And in doing so, you caused the death of the warden. You both are former government agents, so I don't have to remind you how serious the trouble you're in is."

"Yes, we know. But we had to get her out of there, sir. Agent Anderson and I are willing to face the consequences."

"Oh, there may be consequences, Mr. Bauer. But I'll get to that in a few minutes. There are some things I should tell you first." Reilly sighed. "We've known that Peter Michaels was impersonating a prison warden ever since he broke out of prison and arrived at Bridgetown 3 years ago. And we got intel a few months ago that suggested he was planning something. But since Michaels' activities weren't terrorist related, and we had no solid proof that he was an impostor, we had no jurisdiction to have him removed and turned over to us. So we kept watching him, waiting for him to slip up."

"When Chloe was brought into Bridgetown, I wanted to get her out. But I knew if I intervened, Michaels would know we were on to him, and he would disappear. I had no choice but to let him hold her there, while we tried to figure out how to expose him."

"You knew my sister was in prison, and you did nothing to get her out?" Tyler snapped hastily, standing up.

"Tyler, sit down" Jack growled. Tyler glared at him, but sat down, shifting her glare to the phone.

"It's all right. I can understand why she's upset" Reilly said apologetically. "Where was I? Oh, yes. I remember now. Yesterday, we intercepted communications between Michaels and a man named Kessler." Tyler sniffed angrily, but didn't interrupt. "They made several references to Michaels impersonating the warden, as well as a contact of Kessler's, an unnamed CTU agent. We finally had the evidence we needed to get him. I had planned on getting him in a couple days, but you and your friends took care of that. Michaels is out of the way. And with CTU claiming jurisdiction over the case, we'll take care of it. Justice can't touch this case."

"So, that's it?" Jack asked, the surprise in his voice clear.

"No, Mr. Bauer. There's still the matter of you and your friends breaking the law, despite your intentions. Protocol dictates that I have all of you locked up for what you did. But... I'm releasing you back to LA. In return, I need you to do one thing for me."

"What's that?" Tyler spoke up.

"Find out who in CTU was helping Michaels. If you agree to do that, I'll get the charges against you dropped. If not, you two will be handed over to Justice to face trial."

"Mr. Reilly, with all due respect, you have thousands of people working for CTU. Any one of them could get this done."

"And any one of them could be the one working with Michaels and Kessler" Reilly retorted. "Mr. Bauer- Jack, I will give you and your friends whatever resources you need to get this done. And once it is, you can move on with your lives."

_Not again. Every time we try to get out, we get sucked back in. But... if doing this last job means we're free for good, then so be it. _"We'll do it."

"Good. If you need to contact CTU, call 310-597-3781. That's my personal number. Please put Calvin back on."

Jack got up and walked to the door of the holding room, banging on the door to get Harricks' attention. The San Francisco director walked back in. "He wants to speak with you."

Harricks picked up the phone. "Yes, Mr. Reilly?"

"Calvin, I am ordering the release of Agent Bauer and Agent Anderson immediately. They're on assignment. Give them whatever resources they need."

"Yes, sir."

"And Calvin? This has top priority. No one can know about this."

"I understand, sir. I'll be in touch." Harricks hung up and turned to Jack. "Let's go. Both of you."

Jack and Tyler followed Harricks out of holding and down the hall to the bullpen. "Reilly told me to give you any resources you need."

Jack nodded. "Right now, all we need is a transport to get back to LA. Two of them, if you can spare that."

"It'll be done. You need anything else?"

"No. But thank you." Jack turned to Tyler, only to find her across the bullpen, claiming her weapon from the guards. She inspected it, scowling. "You got your dirty fingerprints on my weapon."

"Ma'am, please."

"Don't you 'please' me, you ape."

"Tyler, what's going on?"

Tyler thrust her weapon in Jack's face. "Look at this. I had it nice and clean, and now it's filthy. This ape got his paws on it."

"It's just a weapon, Tyler. Now, let's go." Jack reclaimed his weapon, then followed the fuming Tyler out of the building and down to the motor pool. Turner was waiting with two SUV's.

"The transports you asked for."

"Thanks, Hal." Jack was about to climb in, but stopped and turned his attention back to Turner. "How did you get that information on us so quickly?"

"What?"

"You knew about Chloe. Did you tell them about her?"

Turner shook his head. "No, Jack, I didn't. I would never endanger her life like that. Why?"

Jack gazed at him for a brief minute, sizing the other man up. _I think he's telling me the truth. He risked a lot to help us, not just back at the prison, but getting us released. _"Hal, you can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, not even Harricks. Can you do that?" Turner nodded. "Thank you. Someone inside CTU was working with Michaels against us. Reilly released us on condition we find out who that is."

"You think it's someone here?"

"No. I think it's the acting director of LA, Erin Driscoll. But she may not have been acting alone. I want you to keep an eye on things here, monitor communications, anything like that. Start with the person who found the information on us, find out how he got it so fast. He could be Erin's contact."

"Wait a minute, Jack. I know this guy. He's been doing this job for years. He wouldn't turn like that."

Jack got in Turner's face. "That doesn't mean anything. Nina Myers worked for the government for years, and she was a traitor. I learned my lesson with her, and I am not overlooking any leads. Check him out. Contact me if you find anything. I'm going to the motel." Jack climbed into the SUV and fired it up, driving out of the parking lot. _I'll be there soon, Chloe._


	16. No excuses

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 16

The first rays of sunlight were showing on the horizon as Jack pulled his borrowed transport into the parking lot of the motel and got out, locking the vehicle behind him. Tyler joined him a minute later, yawning. "I don't know about you, Jack, but as soon as this is over, I am going to sleep for a week."

"I know how you feel, Tyler. But I was thinking more along the lines of a vacation. You, me, Chloe, Chase, everyone. We deserve it."

"Sounds good to me." Tyler glanced up at the room they had rented. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's just go see Chloe first."

"All right." Jack made his way up to the room, unlocking the door and walking in, Tyler following right behind. Doyle was fast asleep on the couch, and Jack woke him up. "Mike, wake up."

Doyle's eyes snapped open, and he reached for his weapon, stopping when he saw Jack. "Jack, Tyler. Good to see you."

"You too, Mike." Jack looked around. "Where's Chloe?"

"She's sleeping in the bedroom." Doyle sat up. "Jack, something happened. Our guest is dead."

"What? How did that happen? He was tied up, and Chase was supposed to be watching him." Doyle looked down, and Jack glared at him. "Did you kill him, Mike?"

"No" Doyle replied.

"Are you lying to me?"

Doyle's head shot up. "No, Jack, I'm not. I did not kill him. That doesn't mean I didn't want to, though."

Jack's gaze fell towards the bedroom. "Chase did it, didn't he?"

"Don't put this on Chase, Jack" Tyler snapped.

"Well, if Mike didn't do it, Chase had to have."

"No. He didn't" Doyle said quietly. "Chloe did."

"What?! I don't believe that."

"It's the truth, Jack."

Jack sank down, Doyle's words sinking in. _Chloe killed him? My Chloe? _"What happened?" he asked quietly.

"We brought her back here, like you told us to. When she found out that the guard who assaulted her was here, she demanded to see him."

"You let her near that bastard?" Jack growled angrily.

Doyle shifted a bit. "Come on, Jack. You know how Chloe is. Once she makes up her mind, nothing changes it. She just got out of prison, and I wasn't about to say no to her."

"You should have put her off until Jack and I got back" Tyler barked, staring daggers at Doyle, backing down when Jack shot her a glare. "Fine. I'll shut up."

Jack shook his head angrily, then sighed. "What happened next?"

"Chloe asked us to step back while she talked to him, and we did. I couldn't hear what they were saying very well, but at one point, he said something about you that caused her to snap, and she flew out of her chair and tackled him to the ground. She started choking him, Jack. I wanted to pull her off, but Chase held me back. By the time Chloe let go, he was dead." Doyle looked away. "I'm sorry, Jack."

_What happened to you, Chloe? Why would you snap like that? _Jack exchanged a quick look with Tyler, then stood up quickly. "Where is he?"

"I had Chase get rid of the body."

Jack rubbed his forehead wearily. "Look, we'll deal with that later. We have business to deal with. I'll get Chloe and Chase up. We're leaving for LA in a couple hours." Jack walked into the bedroom, stopping when he saw Chloe sleeping. _She looks so peaceful. Why can't she be at peace like that all the time? _He reluctantly walked over to her and shook her awake. "Chloe. Hey."

Chloe stirred and turned over on her side, the movement putting pressure on her unbroken leg. She winced and cried out as a sharp pain shot up her leg. "No, not now."

"Chloe, are you okay?"

Chloe turned to face Jack, a slight smile appearing on her face. "I am now." She pulled Jack into a hug. "I'm so glad to see you, Jack."

"Me too." Jack pulled away after a few minutes and regarded his wife seriously. "We need to talk, Chloe."

"I know. What happened, Jack? Where have you been?"

"Chloe, I'll explain later. But right now, I want to talk about you."

Chloe looked at him sadly. "Did Mike tell you what happened?"

"Yes, he did. But I want to hear your side."

"...All right." Chloe sighed. "Mike told me you were holding the man who assaulted me here as a prisoner. I was surprised, but I wanted to find out why he had done it. When I talked to him, though, he was just as obnoxious as before. He wasn't sorry for what he had done. He kept on baiting me, trying to make me angry. I was trying not to let him get to me, but the thing that set me off was when he called you worthless. The insults against me I could handle, but not that. I... I just snapped, Jack. I jumped out of my chair and knocked him down. I don't really remember what happened after that. The next thing I know, I'm letting him go, and he was dead. I killed him." Chloe turned away. "Jack, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to snap like that."

Jack sat down next to her and pulled her into another embrace. "Chloe, I'm not mad at you. I'm just happy you're out of there." He reluctantly pulled away, looking down at the sleeping Chase. "Come on, let's get him up. We have business to talk about."

2424242424

"... and that's the story" Tyler said half an hour later as she paced around the room.

"Michaels is dead?" Chloe questioned quietly._ Thank god. He's gone._

"Yeah. He's gone. But that means everything he knew is gone, too. Which will make our job a lot harder."

"No, it won't" Jack interjected. "For starters, I'm not sure Michaels even knew about Kessler's contact with Erin. Most likely, Michaels was merely Kessler's pawn." He turned to Tyler. "What do you think, Tyler? You're the only one of us who knows Kessler, and knows how he works."

"I thought I knew him, Jack. The Colby Kessler I knew wouldn't do this. But you're probably right. Colby always liked to work in secret like that. There were quite a few cases where he wouldn't tell me anything until the mission was over. I never said anything because the work he did in secret often helped us come back in one piece. Now I'm starting to wonder if Colby was always playing me, and he chose Turkey to go over to the dark side for good." Tyler shook her head. "We have a better chance of getting to him if we get to Driscoll first. We should be focusing on that."

"And how do we do that?" Chase asked. "She runs LA."

"Temporarily" Doyle spoke up. "Nadia is still the real director. She'll help us."

"When is she going back to work?"

"In a week. Do you want her back sooner?"

Jack shook his head firmly. "No. If we do that, it might tip Erin off. And I don't want to put Nadia in any danger. I don't want to get her involved unless we absolutely need her help. I trust her, Mike, but I don't want her getting hurt."

Doyle stared at Jack thoughtfully. "She has access to the servers that we can use."

"Get it" Chloe said. "I can piggyback on her signal and get in to CTU's database that way." Doyle shot her a look. "I designed the system, Mike. I know it better than anyone."

"All right, fine." Jack stood up. "Let's go. Pack everything up. We're going back to LA. Tyler, you and Chase take one of the transports. Mike, you're coming with Chloe and me. If you see anyone that looks suspicious, let me know. They're expecting us to fly back, so we have to drive. And try to stay off the main highways as much as possible. With any luck, we'll get back to LA without any trouble." The others nodded and got up to begin packing. Chloe stayed behind. "Do you think we can do this, Jack?"

_I have no idea. _"Yeah. We can do this, Chloe. We have to. Not just for us, but for our children. I don't want them looking over their shoulders their entire lives. Besides, we've done some difficult things before. This won't be any different. Except it'll be the last one. After this, you and I are done for good."

Chloe looked at him skeptically. "I don't know, Jack. I wish I had your confidence."

"Chloe... do you trust me?"

Chloe scowled. "Of course I do. You know that."

"Then trust me on this. We will expose Erin. We will find Kessler. They won't be able to hurt us ever again. And you and I can finally get on with our lives."

Chloe looked into his eyes, her doubt fading as she saw the conviction in them. _If he believes, then so can I. _"All right, Jack."

"That's my girl." Jack gave her a quick kiss, then scooped his wife up and carried her down to the transport, setting her inside gently. Doyle showed up a few minutes later, carrying a bag. "We're ready to leave. Chase and Tyler are going to leave in a few minutes to meet up with one of her contacts before they go back to LA. She said not to wait for them."

"Okay. Get in. I'll drive."

"No, I'll drive. Jack, you've been up all night, and I haven't. Get some rest. Relax for a while. You're going to need it."

Jack felt a creeping lethargy begin to overtake him, and he realized Doyle was right. "Thank you, Mike." He handed the keys to Doyle and climbed in next to Chloe, who was nodding off. He pulled her down onto his lap, stroking her hair softly as she fell asleep. Doyle fired up the transport and pulled out of the parking lot, starting towards the highway. The low hum of the engine soon lulled Jack to sleep, and he let go, his head dropping back. Doyle glanced back at them quickly, then turned back to the road, focusing on the drive, and their mission. _This is not over. But we have some time. And we're going to get them._

2424242424

"Driscoll."

"It's Colby."

Driscoll sighed loudly, looking around to make sure she was alone. "What do you want, Colby?"

"Is it done?"

"Is what done?"

Colby rolled his eyes, putting his hand on his forehead._ Why does she have to be so clueless? _"What else would I be contacting you about? Are Bauer and Anderson out of CTU?"

"Yes, they are. The protocols you gave me worked. I was able to plant the information clearing Bauer and Anderson into the systems. They're out" Driscoll snapped back, irritated with Colby's condescending tone. _Why do I put up with this jerk?_

"When?"

Driscoll glanced at the screen. "They were released from custody about 7 hours ago."

"7 hours?! Erin, you were supposed to tell me the second they were released, so I could get to them. Now we're behind schedule. Bauer and his friends won't be exposed for long, and we may have lost our only shot to get to them before they got home."

Driscoll recoiled from the phone. "Don't yell at me, Colby. I had no way to contact you until you called me just now. Besides, none of this would have happened if you had done your job at the prison. Look, you got to them once already. No reason you can't do it again."

Colby scoffed. "That one time was because I had the element of surprise. Bauer let his guard down, and I was able to take advantage of that. Not this time. They'll come home, and they'll be waiting for me."

"I don't want to hear your excuses, Colby. I did my part. Do yours."

"Fine. I'll do my job. But just remember, Erin- once this job is done, don't you ever contact me again. Because if you do, I will kill you."

"Don't you threaten me" Driscoll hissed. "You even think of carrying out that threat-"

"What are you going to do?" Colby interjected. "Try and kill me? Please. You're a desk jockey. I was a field agent for over 10 years. I could kill you before you so much as blink. So don't play that game with me. I'll call you to confirm that Bauer, O'Brian, Anderson, and that little pissant brother of mine are all dead."

"You had better not screw this up." She was answered by the dial tone as Colby hung up quickly. He placed his phone on the seat next to him and turned his car on, speeding off towards LA, his resolve strengthened. _Time for a little family reunion._


	17. Family reunion

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 17

The sun was still high on the horizon as the solitary vehicle made its way down the dirt path, heading towards the isolated home. The figure at the wheel focused his attention on the road, blocking out the breathtaking scenery. Doyle glanced briefly at the sleeping couple behind him, before turning back to the road, pulling outside the house a few minutes later. "We're here" he called out, causing Jack to wake up.

Jack rubbed his eyes, shaking the sleepiness off. "What time is it?"

"Late. Come on, let's get her inside."

"Good idea. Chloe, come on, wake up."

Chloe slowly opened her eyes, and tried to sit up. "Are we home?"

"Yeah, we are."

"Finally." Chloe found herself being gently pulled out of the transport by Jack, who carried her to the door of the house, motioning for Doyle to open the door. Doyle quickly picked the lock, then slowly went inside, his hand resting on his weapon. "Anyone home?" he called out, slowly stalking through the house. Doyle turned the corner into the kitchen, stopping when he found himself staring into the barrel of a Glock. He stepped back hastily, putting his hands up. "Whoa, Connor, it's me."

Connor stepped towards Doyle and lowered the weapon in his hands. "Sorry, Mike. I just didn't want to take any chances." He set the weapon down on the nearby counter and grabbed Doyle's shoulder. "Where is she?"

"She's here. Come on." Connor followed Doyle into the living room, and stopped when he saw his mother being helped into her power chair, Jack easing her into a comfortable position. Jack felt the presence of the two men behind him and turned around, a slight smile appearing when he saw Connor. Chloe followed his gaze, and froze at the sight of her son standing back. "Connor."

Connor stood for a second, then quickly strode across the room and enveloped his mother in a crushing hug. "Thank god you're safe."

"I missed you, Connor."

"I missed you too, mom."

Chloe felt her heart break. _Mom. He called me mom_. Tears came to her eyes and she began to cry.

"Are you okay?" Connor asked.

She sniffed, wiping away her tears. "Yeah, I'm okay. It's just... you called me mom."

Connor hastily let go, looking down at the floor. "I'm sorry. I didn't... if you don't want me to call you that, that's fine."

"Oh, sweetheart, you can call me whatever you want. I'm just so happy to see you again, son."

A slight smile appeared on Connor's face. "I guess that's settled, then." He glanced down at her leg. "What happened to you? You're injured."

"Yeah, I know. It's a long story." She looked around. "Where are Brian and the kids?"

"Upstairs. They were sleeping, last I saw them. You want to go see them?"

"You know I do" she replied. "Come on, Jack, let's go see our children."

Doyle cleared his throat. "Since you guys are home, I'll go ahead and take off. It's late. Nadia's probably worried sick about me."

"All right. Give my best to Nadia." Jack grasped the younger man's hand, then led him outside, handing him the keys to the CTU transport. "Mike, thank you. Thank you for helping us. I don't know if I would have been able to get Chloe out of there without your help. We both owe you a huge debt."

Doyle shook his head. "You don't owe me anything, Jack. Except your friendship. That's all I could ask for."

Jack grinned. "Right." He glanced at his watch. "I guess I'll let you go. I'll contact you in a couple days." He watched as Doyle climbed in the transport and fired it up, pulling away from the house. Once he was out of sight, Jack went back into the house and rejoined his wife and stepson. Chloe was explaining to Connor what she had been through, the emotions of reliving her experience showing clearly on her face. She finished her story and turned to Jack. "Let's go, Jack. The children are waiting."

"Sounds good to me." Jack followed her up the stairs and into the babies' room. Brian was sitting by the cribs, his eyes on the sleeping children. He looked up as Chloe came in and grinned, embracing her enthusiastically. "Welcome home, Chloe. It's great to see you. I'm so glad you're safe."

"Thanks, Brian. I'm glad to be out, too."

Brian let go after a few minutes and gestured behind him to the children, who had remained asleep. "They're waiting for you."

Chloe moved quietly towards the cribs, her emotions overwhelming her. _They're okay. My sacrifice, all the pain I suffered, all of it was worth it. _"Have they been any trouble?"

"Other than the usual things? No."

"That's good. I was just worried that something else might happen to them."

"Not with me around. Not this time."

Chloe cursed herself for bringing the kidnapping up. "Brian, I told you, I don't blame you for that. It was that scumbag Kessler." She scowled. "Look, this is supposed to be a happy reunion, so let's let the past stay in the past, and talk about the future." She pulled Jack down next to her, and the 4 began to talk quietly, so as not to wake the children.

Brian got up a few hours later and moved towards the door. "Do you mind if I take off for a couple hours? You two deserve some time alone with your children, and there's some things I've been meaning to get done for a few days."

"Sure" Jack told him. "Go on. Enjoy yourself for a while. You deserve it after keeping an eye on these 3 for us."

"Thanks, Jack." Brian turned to Connor. "Hey, Connor. _Mega Thrashers _is playing at the park. You interested?"

Connor smirked. "Sure, man." He glanced at Chloe, who motioned for him to go. "I'm glad you're okay, mom. I'll see you in a few hours."

"You're coming back here?"

"Yeah. My apartment was broken into a couple days ago, so I've been staying here. Unless you don't want me to."

"No, that's fine" she said. "We have plenty of room here, if you need a place to crash for a few days."

"Thanks, mom." He got up and followed Brian out of the room, leaving Jack and Chloe alone with their kids. The couple sat in silence, their eyes on the children at all times. Chloe leaned into her husband, and smiled as he started rubbing her back. _This isn't over. Kessler's still out there, and Erin can't be happy that we're still alive. We have to expose her. And my leg. I haven't felt anything, no pain, nothing. But we'll worry about that in the morning. I'm home, my children are safe, and that's all that matters. I'm going to enjoy this._

2424242424

The ringing of the doorbell caused Tyler to jump, smacking her head on the cabinet door she had opened. Stifling a few curses, Tyler answered the door, smirking when she saw Brian standing outside. "Hey, Bri. Get in here."

"You all right?" he asked, stepping inside.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just hit my head." She steered Brian towards the living room, sitting down on the couch. "So what's going on?"

"Chloe and Jack booted me out for a few hours. They said I needed a break." He looked around. "Where's Chase?"

"He left with Mike. They're checking on that lead we got on Colby last night."

"And he left you here alone? With Colby out there? Someone who wants you dead?"

Tyler rolled her eyes. "I can take care of myself, Brian. I don't need Chase by my side 24 hours a day to feel safe."

Brian hastily put his hands up. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean that to sound like you can't take care of yourself. If anyone can take care of themselves, it's you, Ty."

She put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I appreciate your concern, Brian. I really do. And... I'm still scared. Colby is still out there somewhere, and he wants me dead. He was able to get to us once before. There's nothing that says he won't be able to again." She sighed. "But I'm not going to let that fear control my life. That what Colby wants."

"Well, if you insist."

Tyler stood up. "Let's go upstairs. Mike gave us some information a couple hours ago, and I want your opinion on it."

Brian followed her up the stairs and into the upper study, sitting down next to her and pulling some papers out, reading them thoroughly. "This doesn't make any sense" he said a few minutes later. "Colby doesn't make moves like this."

Tyler shot him a glare. "The Colby we knew wouldn't do that. Of course, the man we knew wouldn't kidnap children, either." She began rubbing her forehead wearily.

"Ty, what's wrong?"

She didn't look back at him. "I still keep trying to make sense of this, Brian. I'm still trying to reconcile the Colby I knew, the one I worked with for years, with this man. And it's not making any sense. A diehard patriot turning to the dark side? It's happened before, but I never would have believed that Colby of all people would do that. He was so dedicated to serving his country, to making a difference with his life. I asked him one time when I was still new to the CIA why he fought so hard to do his job. He told me that if what he did meant that one person could sleep safely at night, all the sacrifices were worth it." She shook her head. "Something must have happened in Austria to change his mind. I wish I knew what, though."

Brian merely stared at her. "Well, the only person who can tell us that is Colby. We need to find him before he finds us."

Tyler nodded. "Right. Let's get back to work." The 2 former CIA agents quickly got back to studying the information, trying to make sense of the data.

Brian stood up a couple hours later and stretched. "I'm going to go take a break and get something to eat. You want something?"

"Sure. Thanks." Brian left and Tyler turned her attention back to the data. _I hate data crunching. It's so boring. _She looked up 20 minutes later and pulled out her phone.

"Bauer residence."

"Hey, Chlo, it's Ty."

"Hey, Ty. What's going on? Have you gotten anything?"

Tyler stood up, stretching. "Unfortunately, no. Lots of random junk. None of it makes any sense so far."

Chloe scowled. "Same here. Is Chase there?"

"No, he and Mike went to the junction where Colby was sighted the other day. Brian's keeping me company, though. He went to get some food."

"So, what's up?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing, Chloe. You said you were having problems with your leg yesterday."

Chloe glanced down at the splinted leg. "We haven't had a chance to get it checked out yet. But it's totally dead. I don't feel anything. I haven't felt anything since I hurt it, except a few flashes of pain." She sighed. "Why does this bad stuff always happen to me, Tyler? I worked so hard to be able to walk, and now all that hard work might have been for nothing."

"Chloe, I know you're scared, but we're going to work this out. Trust me."

"I know." Chloe looked up as Jack called to her. "Look, Ty, I've got to go. Jack wants me."

"I'm going to go check on Brian. He should have been back by now. I'll see you later." Tyler hung up and locked up the files she had been looking at. No sense in leaving these out. Grabbing her weapon off the table, she went to find her friend.

2424242424

"And that should do it" Brian said to himself, grinning as he put the finishing touches on the sandwiches he had made. "I think she'll like this." His grin faded as he heard a slight thump behind him. "Tyler? That you? Come on, it's only been a few minutes." Not receiving a response, he turned around, seeing no one there. "Tyler, where are you? Come on, we don't have time for this."

Another thump caught his attention. _What the hell was that? _He slowly moved towards the source, turning to move down the hallway when he felt the barrel of a gun pressed against his neck. "Make a sound, and I kill you."

Brian felt his heart pounding as he slowly turned around, his eyes widening. "How did you-?"

"Hello, brother" was the last thing Brian heard as a sharp pain flared in his chest and he fell soundlessly to the floor. The figure standing over the motionless agent put a third bullet in the man's chest and smirked unpleasantly. _One down, one to go._

2424242424

"Brian?" Tyler called out as she walked towards the kitchen. "Are you okay?" _Where is he? _She reached the kitchen and frowned as she saw the sandwiches Brian had made sitting out. _He wouldn't just leave these sitting out._ Drawing her gun, she slowly moved through the house, stepping lightly, her senses alert for any sign of her friend.

Tyler had gone through a few rooms when she glanced down at the floor, gasping when she saw Brian lying in a pool of blood on the floor. "Oh, my god!" She quickly moved to his side and checked for a pulse, her heart sinking when none was found. "Come on, Brian, get up. Please."

Her pleas went unanswered, and Tyler began to sob loudly, cradling the body of her friend in her arms. _No. Not him. This isn't fair._

"Well, isn't this touching" a cold, muffled voice sounded behind Tyler, jerking her out of her sorrow. She set Brian's body down and began to turn around, ready to strike, but was stopped by a gun pressed against her back. "Drop it and put your hands behind your head."

The cold metal on her skin pressed in harder and Tyler reluctantly set the weapon down on the floor, then put her hands behind her head, locking her fingers together.

"Stand up." Tyler did as she was told, then stumbled a bit as she was jabbed with the gun again. "Move into the living room." Tyler slowly moved into the living room and stopped as she reached the couch. She felt herself being turned around, and forced to sit down. "Put your hands where I can see them." She slowly brought her hands from behind her head and placed them on the table in front of her, glaring daggers at the masked man standing in front of her. "You don't need the mask. I know who you are... Colby."


	18. Worthy challenge

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 18

"So you figured it out."

"Wasn't very hard" Tyler spat out, giving the man in front of her a lethal glare, similar to the one she had seen from Chloe many times before.

"Guess I won't need this anymore" Colby replied, whipping the mask off his face, keeping his gun trained on Tyler. He smirked. "It's been a while, Tyler. Did you miss me?"

"You sick son of a bitch. How dare you? He was your brother."

"He was a problem. I don't like problems."

Tyler glanced at Brian's body briefly. "Colby, why are you doing this?"

"Because I'm being paid to. But I would have done it for free." He slowly paced around his captive, brushing her with his gun. She jerked away hastily. "You've lost your edge, Tyler. The old Tyler would never have let me get the drop on her like this. Retirement has made you soft. Soft and weak. The woman I see before me wouldn't have lasted 2 days in the field. Sad, really. I was expecting a more worthy challenge from my former partner. But you disappoint me."

"Put the gun down and I'll show you how **soft **I am" she snapped.

The smirk returned in full force. "Now why would I do that? I've got you right where I want you. 5 years of planning, waiting for this, has finally paid off."

Tyler shuddered. _He's going to kill me. He's serious about this. _"What happened to you, Colby?"

Colby grew serious. "You wouldn't understand, Tyler. You're blind."

"Explain it to me, then. Colby, you were a patriot. Why would you turn like this? Or were you just playing me all those years, and Turkey was your coming out party?"

He regarded Tyler disdainfully. "I don't expect you to get it, but since you seem so eager to find out, I guess I could put your mind at ease before I kill you." He sat down in the chair across from Tyler, shifting his gun to his other hand. "No, I wasn't playing you. I was a patriot, and a strong one, too. Everything I told you, about what an honor it was to serve this country, how the sacrifices were worth it, was true. I believed it, mind, body, and spirit. No sacrifice would have been too great for keeping this country safe. Until you came along. Despite my determination to stay detatched, to treat our relationship solely as a partnership, I found myself growing to like you, as a friend."

"I also found myself questioning my commitment to the job, as far as you were concerned. I couldn't see myself sacrificing you to that job. I even considered leaving at one point. But I stayed. I was still the loyal patriot." He spat out those last two words as if they were a curse.

"So if you cared that much, why did you turn on me?" Tyler asked.

Colby thrust the gun in her face. "I'm getting to that, Tyler." He sat back down, satisfied that she was cowed for the moment. "The thing that changed everything for me was the Behringer case- Berlin. When I was undercover with Behringer's men, they treated me like family, like I was a real brother. The only difference between me and them was our ideology. They cared about each other. And about me. I got sick one day from something, something that almost killed me, and they helped me recover. I almost hated having to sell them out, but I kept reminding myself I had a job to do."

"I had been under with them for 3 months, when our base of operations got shifted to Vienna. I didn't have a chance to contact you before the move, and I couldn't risk blowing my cover, so I had to go dark. I had every intention of contacting you the second I could, but you blew everything, Tyler. Not intentionally, but you still did. One of the members of Behringer's inner circle had been involved with that diamond cartel you and Brian helped take down, and he was watching you from the second you arrived in Vienna. When you contacted me, he found out, and my cover was blown."

"The group I had been assigned to when I went under was given the honor of interrogating me. Some of them, however, didn't care that I was a fed. They still liked me, and they fought the others to keep me from being tortured. They were killed for their trouble, and I was beaten to within an inch of my life before my tormentors decided I wasn't worth their efforts anymore. I was left on the street to rot like an animal. Then you came along and got me to a hospital."

"That's right. I saved your life, Colby, and you sold me out" Tyler said hotly.

Colby didn't answer, but merely continued to point his weapon at her. "After we came back to the US, I was expecting, I don't know, some sign of gratitude from this country. At the very least, compensation for what I had been through. I got nothing, Tyler, nothing but aggravation. The first thing they ask me is 'How soon can you come back to work? Oh, by the way, your wife can't handle things anymore. She's taking your kids and leaving you.' I had been through hell, but that wasn't enough for them. They wanted more. All they did was take from me. I tried to talk to you, see if you would help me, but you were too wrapped up in your problems to notice mine. No one else cared, either. Not even my brother. He was too busy helping you. I had to deal with that crap on my own, and I couldn't."

"I had been severely injured, so I couldn't work. All I could do was lay in bed and think. I came to the conclusion that if you hadn't have contacted me in Vienna, none of this would have happened. Those men who had died defending me would still be alive. I wouldn't have been beaten almost to death. My wife wouldn't have left me. Everything that had happened was your fault." Tyler opened her mouth to speak, but Colby twitched his finger slightly, causing her to pale and close her mouth hastily.

"From that point on, I stopped caring about you, about the job, about this country. I gave them years of sacrifices, and got only pain in return the one time I needed help. I was done playing the good little soldier. I could only think of one thing: paying you back for blowing my cover. But the timing wasn't right. After the Behringer fiasco, I was on a tight leash. I didn't have many opportunities to make contacts on the other side. The few that I did make, however, proved to be extremely helpful. They got me in touch with the head of the Turkish secret police. He had been involved with that diamond cartel you took down, and he wanted payback for that. He offered me 10 million if I would lead him to you, and I agreed."

"That mission in Turkey took months of planning. I managed to obtain the list of agents who were going to be our contacts and gave it up. The plan was to have them picked off one by one, so you would have to go through me most of the time. I needed to keep your confidence long enough to spring the trap I had laid out. And I did. You walked right into it, Tyler, and right into prison. Everything worked out for me. The most satisfying part, though, was going to the prison they were holding you in one day, and watching while they interrogated you. The pain you went through was all the payment I needed at that point. Or so I thought."

"I had every intention of taking the 10 million and disappearing for good. But I found the work to be exactly what I had been looking for my entire life. Yes, it was dangerous work, but at least this work was worth something more than empty speeches and slaps on the back. I had been such an idiot, risking my life for a bunch of suits who merely took and took without giving back. Besides, the only person who could expose me was you, and you were locked up. I was free to play both sides and get the rewards that I found myself enjoying more and more every day."

"When you got out of Turkey, though, I was exposed. Fortunately, I got away. But once again, you had ruined things for me. You were supposed to be in that prison for the rest of your life. From that point on, having you suffer wasn't enough. I wanted you dead. But I couldn't just kill you. No, it had to be like this: face to face, looking into your eyes. I wanted you to know who did it." His eyes flashed dangerously, and Tyler shuddered.

"Are you afraid, Tyler?"

_No sense in lying to him. False bravado isn't going to help me here. _"Yes. I don't want to die. Come on, Colby, don't do this. Please."

Colby let out a short barking laugh. "Tyler Anderson, begging for her life? That's a first. And here I thought you were above that." He grew serious and stood back up, walking slowly towards Tyler. "You know, Tyler, if it's any consolation, after I kill you, I'll leave your family alone. I never cared about them. Killing you and my brother was the only thing I wanted from this. Now stand up." She stood up quickly. "Move."

"No, Colby. If you're going to kill me, do it here. Isn't that what you wanted? Or are you trying to work up the nerve?"

Colby snarled, thrusting his gun into Tyler's side. "Shut up, Tyler. Just shut up!"

_Now or never. _Before Colby could react, Tyler's hand shot up, knocking the gun out of his hand. She drove her foot into his solar plexus forcefully, knocking the wind out of him, causing him to double over. Colby dropped to his knees, gasping, and Tyler used the few seconds she had bought herself to grab Colby's discarded weapon and aim it at him. He looked at her, his expression muted. A slight grin appeared on his face. "Well played, Tyler. My best move, and you used it to beat me." He looked down, all traces of humor gone. "This was never going to end well for either of us, was it?"

"No, Colby. It wasn't. You crossed that line when you went after my sister and her family."

He nodded, glancing over at his brother, then looked back at Tyler. "What are you waiting for? Do it. You want to, so what's stopping you now?"

Tyler merely stared at him. "Who was your contact in CTU? Was it Erin Driscoll?"

Colby's eyes went wide. _Gotcha. _"That's right, Colby. We know about her. Just tell me the truth."

He sniffed. "You want the truth? Do you really want the truth?" She nodded. "313 Center Street in Grenada Hills. Go there. You'll find the truth you're looking for."

Tyler responded by pulling the trigger twice, both shots hitting their mark. Colby clutched his chest and fell forward, landing hard on the floor. Tyler waited a few moments, then walked to his side, checking for any signs of life. She found none, then sank down to the floor wearily, dropping the weapon in her hands. For a few minutes, she sat there, staring blankly into space. _I don't believe this. I let my guard down and now my friend is dead. This is all my fault._

The sound of the door opening drew her out of her thoughts and she reached for Colby's weapon. "Who is it?" she called out.

"It's only me" the voice of Chase responded. Tyler lowered the gun hastily.

"We didn't find anything at the-" Chase shut up as he came into the living room. "What the hell happened here? Who is that?"

Tyler looked away from him. "Colby."

"What?!" Chase's eyes darted around the room, resting finally on Brian's body lying in the hall. "Oh my god." He quickly went to his wife's side, kneeling down next to her. "Tyler, are you all right?"

"No, I'm not, Chase" she replied harshly.

"What happened here?"

"...Brian came by to see me, and we were looking at that information Mike gave us. After a while, he said he was going to get something to eat. When he didn't come back, I went looking for him. I found him lying there. He was already dead. Colby got the drop on me then. He was going to kill me when I got his gun, and I... I killed him." She began sobbing once again, and Chase wrapped her up in his arms. "This is my fault. I should never have let him alone. Brian's dead because of my carelessness."

"No, sweetheart. This isn't your fault. Colby did it, not you."

Tyler sniffed, trying to stem the flood of tears. "He told me everything, Chase- why he turned on me, how he turned on me, everything. It was because of Austria." She pulled away, staring at Colby's body. "Before I killed him, Colby gave me an address. 313 Center Street, Grenada Hills. He said the truth was there, We'll need to check it out."

"Later" Chase replied. "We'll deal with that later. We have more important things to worry about right now." He glanced back over at Brian. "Why would Colby want Brian of all people dead? Did he have something to do with Austria?"

Tyler stared down at the floor. "Not exactly. Brian was Colby's brother. Colby blamed Brian for not being there to help him after Austria."

_Brother? What aren't you telling me, Tyler? _"Why didn't you tell us, Tyler?"

"I wanted to, but Brian made me promise not to. He was afraid that you guys wouldn't trust him if you knew." She stood up. "We don't have time for this right now. Get rid of Colby. I don't care how. I'll call Brian's other brother in New York. He should hear it from me. And I'll break the news to Jack and Chloe myself."

Chase nodded, then dragged Colby's body out to get rid of it. Tyler went up to her study and pulled out her phone, as well as a small piece of paper.

"Hello?"

"Is this Darryl Kessler?"

"Yeah" the voice on the other end said hesitantly. "Who's this?"

"My name's Tyler Anderson. I worked with your brothers Brian and Colby."

"I know who you are, Ms. Anderson. If you're calling me about my brothers, don't bother. Those little rats deserved whatever they got."

_Oh, damn. This is not going to be pleasant. _"Your brothers are dead."

"...Dead? Wha- How?"

"Colby killed Brian, and I killed Colby."

"What?"

"Yeah. Less than 30 minutes ago."

There was silence on the other end, and Tyler grew anxious. _This is not good. _"Mr. Kessler? Are you still there?"

"How the hell did this happen?" he asked her sharply. Tyler told him what had happened, leaving out what Colby had told her. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Kessler. I just wanted you to hear it from me first."

"Look, Ms. Anderson, I appreciate you telling me, but... whatever funeral arrangements you want to make, go right ahead. I don't want to get involved."

Tyler was stunned. "But he was your brother."

"Brian made his decision when he walked away from the family. As far as I'm concerned, he's nothing to me. Neither of them are. Was there anything else you wanted, Ms. Anderson?"

"...No, sir."

"Then goodbye." He hung up, and Tyler tossed her phone in disgust. _Arrogant little bastard. No wonder Brian never wanted to see him._ She rubbed her forehead, then retrieved her phone. _Chloe's going to be devastated._

"Bauer residence, Connor speaking."

"Hey, Connor. Is Chloe home?"

"Yeah. Hold on, I'll get her."

"No, wait. Tell her I'll be stopping by in a bit, after Chase comes back home. I have something to tell you guys, and I want to do it in person."

"We'll be here, but what's going on, Aunt Tyler?"

"Connor, I'll explain when I see you. Just be there." Tyler hung up and grabbed her jacket, running into Chase on her way out. "I'm going to Chloe's home. It's only fair that I tell them in person."

"You want me to come along?"

"No. Just take care of Brian for me." She gave her husband a quick kiss, then walked out the door, dreading the job she had to do. _Chloe, Jack, please forgive me._


	19. Breaking the news

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 19

Tyler pulled into the driveway slowly, taking her time to gather her thoughts, and strengthen her resolve. _I don't want to do this. They're going to hate me for this, I know it. But I have to do this. And if they hate me, then so be it. _Shutting off her car, she walked up to the door and paused, then rang the bell. Chloe answered a few moments later. "Hey, Tyler. Come on in."

"Hey, Chloe. Where's Jack and Connor?"

"Upstairs. Why?"

"I need to talk to you guys."

Chloe gave her sister a questioning glance. "That's what Connor said, but what's going on, Tyler? Why couldn't you just tell us over the phone?"

Tyler looked down. "This is too important for that. Please, Chloe, get them down here."

Chloe shrugged. "Fine." She wheeled herself over to the intercom that Jack had had installed and buzzed him. "Jack? Tyler's here. She wants to talk to us."

"We'll be right down."

Chloe turned back to Tyler. "You want something to drink?"

Tyler shook her head. "No. I'm not going to be here long." She sat down on the couch, waiting for Jack and Connor to appear. They did a few minutes later and Jack stared questioningly at Tyler. "Tyler, what's going on? What is so important that you had to come out here to tell us?"

_Here goes nothing. _"Colby's dead."

"What? How? When?" Jack asked.

"About an hour ago. He tried to kill me and I killed him."

Chloe slumped back in relief. "Thank god. He's gone. It's over." She turned to Jack. "Jack, it's over. We don't have to worry about him anymore."

Jack, however, didn't hear her, continuing to look at Tyler. "You wouldn't have come all this way to tell us that. What happened?"

Tyler sighed, blinking back tears. "It's Brian. He's dead, too. Colby killed him. He would have killed me too, if I hadn't have outsmarted him."

The relief of Colby's death left Chloe quickly, replaced by shock. _No. No, this can't be true. He can't be gone, too. _"You're lying" she choked out.

"Believe me, Chloe, I wish this was a lie, but it's not." _Oh, my god. This is just like last time. _She told them what had happened, save the detail about Brian and Colby's relationship, stopping a few times to keep her composure. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, guys. This is all my fault."

Chloe began to speak, but was unable to say a word before she felt tears coming to her eyes. She hurriedly brushed them off, and turned her chair around, leaving the room as quickly as she could. Tyler made a move to follow her, but Jack stopped her. "Tyler, let me handle this. Please."

"No, Jack. I am going to handle this myself. I'm not going to abandon my family this time. Chloe deserves better than that." Without waiting for a response, Tyler pushed past Jack and caught up with her sister right outside her bedroom. "Chloe, wait a minute."

"Go away, Tyler. Leave me alone."

"No. We're going to talk about this. Now."

"There's nothing to talk about" Chloe retorted.

"Yes, there is. Chloe, I am not going to leave you to deal with this on your own. I made that mistake years ago, and look what happened. You turned away from everyone because you were too afraid to get help. I lost my sister to hatred for almost 20 years. That is not going to happen this time."

"So all you care about is whether or not we talk to each other?"

Tyler flinched at Chloe's harsh words, but didn't respond. She grabbed Chloe's chair and pushed it into the bedroom, locking it behind them. "We are not leaving this room until we talk about this."

"Get out of my way" Chloe snapped.

"No, Chloe. You are not running from this."

"Who said I was running?"

"I did." Tyler reached out and put her hand on Chloe's shoulder. "Look, Chloe, I know you're devastated about this. I know you blame me for what happened to Brian. And you'd be right to. It's my fault he's dead. If I hadn't been so careless, this never would have happened. But I am not going to sit back and let this destroy you like Jason's death did."

Chloe looked down at the mention of her brother, and Tyler, sensing she had hit a nerve, drew her sister into a hug. "Chloe, listen. No matter what happens, I care about you. I'm only telling you this because you're my family. You, Chase, Jack, even Connor. I don't want to see the family tear itself apart because of this."

"Don't tell me what to do, Tyler" Chloe snapped, breaking out of Tyler's hug and slapping her on the cheek viciously.

"Is hitting me going to make you feel better, Chloe? Then go right ahead." She was answered with another slap, then another as Chloe wailed on her without mercy. Tyler forced down the urge to defend herself and simply stood there, absorbing each blow without complaint. _Better she take her anger out on me than Jack._

Chloe threw one final blow, then collapsed into tears. "I can't believe he's gone" she choked out.

"I know. I feel the same way. But he wouldn't want you to let this destroy your life."

"That's not going to happen" Chloe said quietly, finally returning her sister's embrace. "Look, I don't blame you, Tyler. Colby was the one who killed him, not you. The only person you killed was the scumbag who kidnapped my children. It's just... of all people to kill, why Brian? He wouldn't have hurt anyone. Why would Colby want him dead? Did something happen?"

"Yeah, you could say that. There's something I didn't tell you guys before. Colby and Brian were brothers, and Colby blamed him for 'abandoning' him after Austria."

_Brothers? _"No. No, that's not possible. I checked his background before Jack and I spoke to him. His brother is a lawyer from New York. There wasn't any mention of Colby in any of his files."

Tyler sighed. "After Colby was exposed as a traitor, Brian's files were altered by his request. All references to Colby were removed. He tried to distance himself from his family and his brother by changing his name, but it wasn't enough. Brian was forced to resign from the CIA by some of the higher-ups who believed that he might be a traitor as well. They would have locked him up were it not for me uncovering proof that he wasn't involved in Colby's turn. His reputation was ruined, though. I was the only one who stood by him the entire time he was being investigated. Everyone else treated him like he was a traitor, just like his brother. That injustice was just another reason for me to leave the CIA."

Chloe glared at her sister furiously. "Why didn't you tell us this before?"

"Would you have let Brian near your children if you knew?" Tyler shot back hotly. "I wanted to, Chloe, but Brian told me not to." She stood up. "Look, Colby gave me an address before he died- 313 Center Street, Grenada Hills. He said the truth about this situation is there. I'm going to check it out. I'll let you know if I find anything." She unlocked the door, leaving hastily.

Chloe followed her out a couple minutes later and headed to the nursery, where the triplets were sleeping. Teri woke up as she came in and started fussing. Chloe picked her up and began feeding her, rocking her gently. "Hello, sweetie. God, I missed you guys. Even the late night wake up calls. Yeah, I missed those, too, believe it or not." She glanced over to the boys, who had not woken up. _Kids sure do sleep a lot. _"You guys are so lucky. You have 2 parents who would do anything just for you, a brother who wants to be here for you, and aunt and uncles who just love you. You have everything we didn't have. But you guys deserve it. Because you're my children, and I love you."

Teri hiccuped, and Chloe began burping her. "I know you can't understand now, but you will someday, when you have kids of your own."

"I know they will." Chloe jumped at the voice behind her, and turned to see Jack standing there, looking concerned. "Chloe, are you all right?"

"Yeah. I just needed some time alone." Chloe handed the now-sleeping Teri to Jack, who set her down in her crib softly. "I always thought I was going to be a bad mother, Jack. I abandoned my first child simply because I couldn't handle it. I never thought I'd get another chance at it. I thought someone was punishing me for giving Connor up with all the bad relationships I've had. I thought the child I was going to have with Morris was my second chance, but that was taken from me as well. The moment I found out that not only was my freedom gone, but so was my second chance, I was crushed. All I wanted to do was break down and cry. But I didn't have that luxury. I needed my strength to stay alive at that time."

"When I found out I was pregnant with these 3, and that they were going to be triplets, I was scared, but I was determined to do things right this time. I guess I have." She glanced down at her splinted leg, then back at the triplets. "Even if I never walk again, it'll be worth it. They're worth all the pain in the world, Jack. So are you."

"I know. We're going to get through this, Chloe. Trust me."

"I always do." Jack pulled her into a kiss, reluctantly letting go when Teri woke up again. Her small eyes opened up, focusing on her mother. "M...m...mamma."

Chloe gasped in surprise. She looked over at Jack, who was staring at his offspring. "She spoke, Jack."

Jack was too stunned to reply, and merely stared at Teri in amazement. The child frowned when she wasn't being attended to and called for Chloe again. Chloe picked her up, grimacing. "I think she needs changing."

"I'll do it."

Chloe shooed Jack away. "No, let me, Jack. I need to do this."

"All right." Jack waited patiently as Chloe finished her task, watching proudly._ Even after all she's been through, she isn't letting it beat her. It's all because of them, because of Connor,... because of me, even. _His cell phone vibrated and he stepped out of the room to answer it. "Yeah."

"Jack, it's Reilly."

"Mr. Reilly. What's going on?"

"I need an update on your progress."

_He really knows how to spoil things. _"The CIA agent who was complicit with Michaels, Colby Kessler, is dead. Tyler killed him."

"That's good news, Jack."

"Thank you, sir."

Reilly paused. "Did you find out anything from him before he was killed?"

"Tyler said she questioned him about his contact in CTU. According to her, when she asked whether or not Erin was that contact, he gave her complicity in this matter away."

"Did he say for sure?"

"Not completely, according to Tyler, but his reaction was enough for her. He also gave up an address. She's checking it out now."

"Good." Another pause. "How are you two doing, Jack?"

"Okay, sir. It's been difficult, but we're getting things back to normal."

"Well, if there's anything I can do for you, just let me know."

"I will, sir. Thank you."

"Don't thank me just yet" Reilly warned. "I also called to warn you that there are some individuals in DC who are not pleased about this situation. Be careful, Jack. These people are very powerful, and they'll come after you. I need that proof soon, or I won't be able to stop them."

_This is just great. _"Mr. Reilly, with all due respect, this is not something that can be handled like that."

"I know, Jack." Reilly sighed loudly. "The best I can do right now is give you one more week. If you don't have definitive proof by then, I'll have no choice but to arrest you, Tyler, and all your friends. That includes Chloe."

"One week?" Jack protested. "Sir, that doesn't give us much time."

"Well, it's the best I can do. I've already put myself on the line more than once for you, by getting you out of CTU, Jack. Please don't make me regret it."

"...Fine. I'll be in touch." Jack hung up, then rejoined his wife, who was playing with Edgar. "What was that about?"

"Reilly. He wanted an update. And to give us a deadline. We have one week to catch Erin, or... we're all going back to prison."

Chloe turned around quickly. "One week?! That's not good."

"I know. I'm not happy about it, either. But don't worry, Chloe. I told you before that we would finish the job, and we will." Jack grabbed her hand. "Right now, all that matters is us. We've all been under a lot of pressure lately. What do you say about a vacation after this is over? You and I will go up to Vermont to visit Bill and Karen. We'll take the kids with us."

Chloe grinned. "Sounds great." Her grin fell away as quickly as it appeared. "If we're not locked up."

"We won't be. Trust me." He scooped Chloe up and carried her off. "I think it's time for some alone time."


	20. Not your concern

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 20

Tyler stalked through the bushes around the seemingly ordinary house, checking for any suspicious activity. _It's quiet, no neighbors around. This is the only place for miles. Makes sense that Colby would use this as a hideout. If this was indeed his hideout. He could have been playing me again, for all I know. If he was, then I might have killed our only chance to find out the truth. And we'll all go to prison, or worse. Whatever, I can't worry about that right now. _She shook her head and walked up to the front door, inspecting the simple padlock. _A padlock? Come on, Colby. You can do better than that._

Taking a furtive glance around, Tyler made quick work of the lock and dropped it next to her. _So far, so good. _She was about to open the door when her eye caught a small metal joint fixed to the door handle. _Ah, the old hand-crusher. I turn this handle even an inch, and snap! There goes my hand. Colby always did love that trap. But I don't have time for this_. She drew her weapon out and smashed the joint off the door. _And you always said I was the predictable one, Colby? I know all your tricks, even the ones you wouldn't tell me about. _Opening the door, Tyler took a tentative step inside, testing for more traps. Finding none, she stepped all the way inside and looked around.

The room was Spartan, the furniture inside designed for practicality. _At least his living style hasn't changed much_. She slowly stalked through the home, looking for anything Colby might have left behind that would give her what she had come for. Her last stop was his bedroom. It was empty, save for an army cot, a few changes of clothes, and to Tyler's surprise, Colby's laptop. _Perfect. Just what I needed._ She scooped up the laptop and was on her way out, when the front door suddenly opened, and Tyler found herself face to face with a young man.

"What are you doing here?" he asker her suspiciously.

"You know, I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm here to clean up."

_Clean up? _"What?"

"Clean up. Make sure this house is presentable for Mr. Kessler when he comes home." The man regarded her warily. "Who are you?"

Tyler shifted, twitching her hand nervously. "I'm an old friend of Mr. Kessler."

His eyes flicked towards the laptop Tyler held. "What are you doing with his laptop? Mr. Kessler hates it when people touch his things. Except for me."

_This is not good. Gotta think of something. _"Mr. Kessler asked me to bring him this. He's a little tied up at the moment."

The young man frowned, then reached for his phone. "You're lying. You're a thief. I'm calling the police."

_Dammit. _Before he could dial, Tyler pulled her gun on him. "Drop the phone now."

His eyes bugged out, and he dropped the phone next to him, putting his hands up hastily. "I'm sorry. Please don't kill me. I just can't let you take that laptop. Mr. Kessler will get angry at me if I do. He's scary when he's angry."

Tyler grabbed the kid's phone. "I don't want to kill you, but I will if I have to. I can't let you stop me." She stuck the phone on her belt. "Sit down on the couch." He darted towards the couch and sat down, keeping his hands in sight. Tyler plugged the laptop into the wall and booted it up.

"What do you want with Mr. Kessler's computer?"

_Okay, definitely not good. _Tyler sighed. "I'm a federal agent. Mr. Kessler may have been involved in the kidnapping of another agent and her children. We're investigating the situation, and I need his laptop. He may have left information on here that can help us solve this matter. That's why I needed it." She pulled out her phone. "Chloe, it's Tyler. I'm at the address Colby gave me."

"Did you find anything?"

"It was mostly clean, but I did get a hold of his laptop. The files are secured, though. I need your help getting into them."

"Give me the IP address. I'll be able to hack in remotely."

"Hang on." Tyler pulled up the address and read it off to Chloe. She patiently waited a few minutes for Chloe to hack in. "Have you gotten anything?"

Chloe growled in frustration. "No, he's covered all his bases. I can't hack in. You're going to have to bring it here."

_Isn't this just perfect? Well, it's better than nothing. _"I'll be there in an hour." Tyler hung up and turned the laptop off, unplugging it. She turned towards her guest, cursing when she saw him gone. _Son of a bitch!_

She stiffened as a gun was pressed to her neck. "Give me the laptop now."

Tyler rolled her eyes. _I really do not have time for this. _Spinning around quickly, she knocked the gun out of his hands. Using her one free hand, she grabbed his arm and twisted it, forcing him down to the ground. "Who are you, really?" she snapped.

"That's not your concern... Anderson."

Tyler set the laptop next to her and hauled the man up, slamming him against the wall. "How do you know my name?"

"I told you that's not important."

She reared back and slammed him even harder against the wall. "I say it is. Now spill it. Who sent you to get that laptop? What's on there that you don't want me seeing?"

He coughed. "I have no idea. I was simply sent here to silence Kessler, make sure he didn't talk."

"You haven't answered my question. Who sent you?"

"I'm not telling you anything."

Tyler hauled the man over to the lone chair in the room and forced him to sit, cuffing his hands to the armrests. "If you know who I am, then you know what I can do to you."

He scoffed. "I'm not afraid of a little pain."

She grabbed his arm and hit the inside of his elbow with two fingers. Her strike was quick and precise, and he immediately began screaming in pain. "What the hell did you do to my arm?"

Tyler got in his face. "I asked you a question. Who sent you? Answer me."

The hitman was breathing heavily, sweat pouring down his face. "I can't. I can't."

"Fine." Tyler grabbed his other arm and jabbed it, striking the nerves forcefully. She covered her ears briefly as his screams grew louder. "You know, this is only going to get worse. Just tell me what I want to know and the pain will stop."

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you what you want to know. Just stop."

She grabbed both his arms and struck them again, relieving his pain. "I can do that again, and it'll be much worse next time. So don't screw around. Now... who sent you?"

"... Erin Driscoll. She hired me to take Kessler out of the picture, as well as destroy any evidence that would expose her."

"Expose her how?"

"I think you already know."

She glared. "Let's say I don't. Tell me everything."

"All I know is, she and 2 former government agents, Peter Michaels and Colby Kessler, were responsible for the kidnapping of Chloe O'Brian's children, forcing O'Brian to give herself up to get them back. The understanding among the 3 parties was, O'Brian would be locked up for the rest of her life, and the boss' role in this would remain hidden. But when you and Jack Bauer broke O'Brian out, killing Michaels in the process, you both risked her exposure. She knew you would go after Kessler, and he would give her up if you ever caught up with him. But she trusted Kessler to keep his end of the bargain, and eliminate you, Bauer, and especially O'Brian. I never asked why, but the boss was obsessed with her, for some reason."

"A few hours ago, the boss found out that Kessler had no intention of killing Bauer and O'Brian. All he cared about was you. She sent me here to take him out, then finish the job he started. But that's not going to happen."

Tyler stood up. "Where is she now?"

"I have no idea. I get my orders by phone. I've only seen her once. That's all I know." He stared at her defiantly. "Do it."

Tyler merely shot him in the head. "That was for going after my family." Taking one last look around, she scooped up Colby's laptop and left, slamming the door behind her. _I hope this is worth all the trouble I went through to get it. If not..._

2424242424

"Have you gotten anything yet?" Jack asked a couple hours later. Chloe was sitting on the couch, trying to hack into Colby's laptop. Connor was right next to her, typing away. He looked up and shook his head. "I can't make any sense of this, Jack. The algorithims are totally random. There's no pattern at all, at least not that I can see."

"Did you try cycling through the headers?" Chloe questioned.

"3 times, mom. I'm getting nothing."

"Try it again."

Connor glanced over at her. "I don't see what good that's going to do."

Chloe glared at him for a second, then turned back to her own screen. "Connor, please do it."

"All right" he grumbled. Chloe smirked briefly. _He sounds just like I used to. _She looked over at Tyler, who was pacing anxiously. "Tyler, you said this was his laptop?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"This programming is advanced, even for an expert programmer, which you told me Colby wasn't."

"What are you getting at?"

Chloe shook her head. "He had to get the encryption codes from someone, someone who knows how to get in. You know anyone like that?"

Tyler frowned. "You mean besides you two and Morris? No. But I hadn't seen him in 6 years, Chloe. He could have gotten them from anywhere."

"Anywhere..." Chloe began frantically typing, stopping a couple minutes later. "I don't believe it. How could he do this?"

"What are you talking about?"

She pointed to her screen. "These code fragments at the end are very specific. It's a signature left by the programmer. Only one person uses them- Morris. He wrote these encryption codes. And from the layout, they were written specifically for Colby."

Jack shot a quick glance over at Tyler. "Are you absolutely sure Morris wrote them?"

"Yes, I'm sure, Jack. Morris wasn't above doing programming jobs for questionable employers in the past. And I wouldn't put it past Colby to use him to get to us."

"Where's Morris now?"

"Redondo Beach. I'll call him and ask him to help us break in."

_How could Morris do this? _"I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

Chloe looked up at him, stunned. "What are you talking about, Jack? We need to get these files, and Morris is the only one who can."

"Chloe, we need to talk. Alone. Connor, Tyler, give us some space."

Connor shrugged, then followed Tyler out the door. Once they were alone, Chloe rounded on Jack. "Jack, what the hell is wrong with you? If we don't get into Colby's computer, we might not get the proof we need, and then we'll go to prison. We only have a week to work with, and this is our best chance to solve this. What's wrong?"

"I don't like this, Chloe. How do you know Morris had nothing to do with your kidnapping?"

Chloe glared furiously at her husband. "Because I know him. Morris would never knowingly get involved in anything that would hurt me or my family. He still cares about me, and he adores those children."

"Oh, really? Then how do you explain this?" Jack gestured towards Colby's laptop.

"I don't know. But I'm sure he has a good explanation for this."

"A good explanation? Chloe, he helped someone who's only intention was to hurt you, hurt us."

Chloe shifted, setting her laptop on the coffee table. "Look, Jack, Morris would never hurt me. Even during our worst arguments, he never once raised his hand to me. He never cheated on me, or anything like that. I know him almost as well as I know you." She stared at him curiously. "You're jealous."

"What? Where did you get that idea?"

"You were willing to do anything to find that proof, until Morris' name came up. Now all of a sudden, you don't think it's a good idea? I'm not buying it."

_I can't lie to her. _"...You're right. I guess I am. I don't want to lose you ever again."

Chloe felt her anger melt away. "Jack, let me put your mind at ease. Yes, I still care about Morris, but I know we wouldn't work out. Our time together was over years ago. You are it for me. You complete me. I love you with all my heart. Nothing, no one, will ever change that." She pulled him close and planted a long kiss on his lips, letting go to come up for air. "I'll talk to Morris. I'll find out the truth. Trust me."


	21. 100 large

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 21

Chloe rubbed her hands nervously in anticipation, waiting for Morris to show up. _I just can't believe Morris is involved in this. Maybe he's not. Maybe this job was done before Colby kidnapped my children. I don't know. The only one who can tell me that is Morris. I just hope he doesn't hate me for this._ She glanced over at Jack, who was leaning against the wall, his eyes on her. Chloe shuddered slightly under his gaze. _He's not happy about this, that's for sure. I might have put his mind at ease for now, but we're definitely going to have to talk about things later._

"Chloe, are you all right?"

"No, not really" she answered quietly. "I just can't believe that Morris would ever get involved in something like this. I know he did some questionable things in the past, but nothing like this. I always thought there were some lines even he wouldn't cross. Maybe I was wrong, though."

Jack came over to her and put his arm around her shoulder. "Look, Chloe, I know you're confused right now. The only thing that matters is that we get to the bottom of this, and get on with our lives." He lifted her chin gently. "I love you. That's never going to change. If you trust nothing else, trust my love for you, and our children."

Chloe merely smiled. "Thanks, Jack." She was about to kiss him when the doorbell rang. _Perfect._

Jack shook his head, then walked over to the door and opened it. Morris was standing outside. "Morris."

"Hello, Jack" Morris replied, reaching for Jack's hand. Jack hesitated a moment, then grasped it briefly. Morris looked past him, his face lighting up when he saw Chloe sitting there. "Hello, Chloe. It's so good to see you."

"It's... good to see you too, Morris."

"So what's going on? Your call said it was urgent."

"Come here." Chloe waved him over, gesturing for him to sit down next to her. Morris stopped when he saw her splinted leg. "What happened to you? You're injured."

"It's a long story. I'll explain later. We need to ask you some questions."

Morris sat down and stared at her in confusion. "What kind of questions? Why couldn't you have just asked me over the phone? It's not exactly a quick drive over here, darling."

Chloe set Colby's laptop in front of Morris and brought up some files. "Do you recognize these files?"

Morris quickly began scanning through them. "Yes, I do. These are programs I wrote for a job. Why?"

"When did you do this job?"

He started typing. "This program is about 4 months old... hang about." He grabbed the laptop, looking it over. "I remember this job now. The person I did it for came to me and offered me 100 large if I could write some data storage files. I thought it was a bit odd at the time- that much money for a simple job, one that just about any programmer could do- but I wasn't about to turn down that amount of money. I took the job. Easiest 100 large I ever made, to be honest."

Chloe glanced at him questioningly. "Did you check him out before you took the job?"

Morris looked offended. "Of course I did. I'm a coward, Chloe, I'm not a bloody idiot. Nothing came up that would have made me turn down the job." He shot a look at Jack, then turned back to Chloe. "What is really going on here?"

"The man who hired you, did he give you a name?"

"He said his name was Louis Ellertson. And like I said, he checked out."

Chloe brought up a shot of Colby. "Is this the man you dealt with?"

Morris nodded. "Yes." He sat back and crossed his arms. "Look, I'm not answering any more questions until you tell me what's going on. Why are you treating me like a criminal?"

Jack sighed. "You really want to know what's going on? Fine. The man you dealt with, his real name is Colby Kessler. 6 weeks ago, he kidnapped our children. In order to get them back, Chloe agreed to hand herself over to him. She ended up in prison. Turns out Kessler was working with another man, Peter Michaels."

"Peter Michaels? Isn't he the man you sent to prison for that mess over that hard drive?"

Chloe nodded. "Hal Turner found me there and told Jack where I was. Jack helped get me out. We also found out that someone in CTU was helping Kessler and Michaels. We're trying to find out who. This laptop might have what we're looking for on it, but we haven't been able to get in yet. The only reason I knew you wrote these programs was because you marked them. Which means you can get in." She grabbed Morris' hand. "Morris, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound like we were accusing you of anything."

Morris snatched his hand away. "It sounds to me like you are." He stood up. "I'd never work with anyone that wants to hurt you, Chloe, and I'm insulted that you think I would." He shot a nasty glare at Jack before walking out the door. Jack followed Morris out, catching up with him next to Morris' car. "Morris, wait."

"No, Jack. I'm not going to stand there and be treated like I've done something wrong."

Jack put his hand on Morris' shoulder. "Nobody's accusing you of anything, Morris."

"You told me that I helped someone who kidnapped your children."

"And if you knew what Kessler was planning, would you still have taken that job?"

Morris glared at Jack furiously. "No. I would have turned him in, first chance I got."

Jack simply looked at him. "That's exactly what Chloe said. She didn't believe that you would ever want to hurt her."

"Then why didn't you tell me the truth? Why didn't you just ask me for help?"

"Look, Morris- we're all under a lot of pressure here. We need you to get into that laptop. Chloe and Connor have been trying for 4 days now. Neither of them have gotten anywhere. But you know how to get in. Please, help us."

Morris glanced over at the house before turning back to Jack. "And why should I?"

_I guess he should know the truth._ "Tyler and I were arrested getting Chloe out of prison. We were released on condition we find the mole in CTU. If we can't find anything in the next 3 days, not only are Tyler and I going back, but Chloe is as well. I will do whatever I have to to keep her out of prison. Morris, if I have to force you to do this, I will. I will not let Chloe go through that again." Jack dropped his hand. "I don't want to lose my children, or my wife. I can't."

"...All right. I'll do it."

Jack merely nodded. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. I haven't gotten anything."

2424242424

"Okay, I'm in" Morris said the next day. He leaned back, cracking his neck. "I haven't had a challenge that difficult in years."

Chloe shot him a glare. "Did you have to make it that hard to get in?"

Morris shrugged. "I was getting paid 100 large, Chloe. That kind of cash demands only the best work."

"Morris, we spent 4 days on this thing, and got nowhere."

"How is that my fault?"

"I didn't say it was your fault, now did I? I just hope that this has what we're looking for on it, or..." She glanced over her shoulder, where Jack and Connor were playing with the triplets.

"I'm fairly certain they wouldn't have gone to all this trouble if it's just a dead end."

Chloe refused to look at Morris. "I hope you're right, Morris." She began pouring over the files Morris was sending her, searching desperately for the proof she was looking for. _Come on, please. Please let me find something. Anything. I can't go back to prison. I can't lose Jack, or my children._

"Did you find anything yet?" Chloe jumped at Jack's voice. He was standing over her shoulder, David fast asleep in his arms.

Chloe scowled. "Don't sneak up on me, Jack." Her eyes suddenly widened as she began typing. "I think we might have found something." She pointed to her screen. "It's a series of communications between Kessler and Michaels. The first one is from 2 months ago. It's a confirmation of a wire transfer to Kessler for 10 million for 'services rendered'."

"So we have proof of them doing business together in the last few months."

She nodded. "Not what we're looking for, though. None of these communications mentions Erin at all." She frowned. "Hang on... there's something else. Some kind of audio file."

"Can you open it?"

"Yeah." Chloe punched in a few keys, then turned the volume on to hear it.

_"Erin Driscoll?"_

_"Who the hell is this?"_

_"Someone who can give you what you want."_

_"And what is that?"_

_"Does the name Chloe O'Brian ring a bell?"_

_"...I'm listening."_

_"I know your history with O'Brian, and I know you want payback for what happened."_

_"I got my payback already. I fired her."_

_"So she lost a job for a few hours. Doesn't mean anything. No, what I'm proposing is much more than that."_

_"Tell me."_

_"Not yet. I want to know if you're in or out first. If you're in, then I can give you payback not only on O'Brian, but also on Jack Bauer as well."_

_"...I'm in."_

_"Good. I'll contact you soon with further details."_

Jack sank down into the recliner. _Oh my god. It's true. I was right. _"She was involved. Erin was part of this."

Chloe clenched her hands in anger. _How dare she do this to me. It wasn't enough firing me? She had to take my freedom, too? _She slammed her hand on the table. "Damn you, Erin. Damn you!" Shaking her hand, she clicked on another audio file.

_"Erin, it's Colby."_

_"You have a lot of nerve to be calling me, Colby, after how badly you just screwed up. CTU has Jack now. You'll never get to him in there."_

_"Oh, give me a break, Erin. I told Michaels not to underestimate Bauer, and he didn't listen to me. So if you're looking to blame someone, don't look at me."_

_"Don't talk to me like that. I did everything you needed me to do. Now this whole operation has been ruined, and CTU is going to find out about my role."_

_"Well, you have to make sure they don't find out. But I do have a bit of good news. Michaels is dead. He could have pointed the finger at us. But that's not going to happen now. I need you to do one more thing."_

_"No. I'm out, Colby. Find someone else to do your dirty work."_

_"You want to see O'Brian and Bauer dead? Then do what I'm asking you to do."_

_"What do you need me to do?"_

_"Bauer and Anderson are being taken to CTU. Find a way to get them cleared of the charges, and have them sent back to LA. They'll be perfect targets once they're back in LA. That's when I'll strike. With Bauer out of the way, O'Brian will be easy to get to. We'll both get what we want."_

_"I don't have any authority over San Francisco, Colby. You know that."_

_"That hasn't stopped you before, has it? Make it happen, Erin, or you know what will happen."_

_"Are you threatening me, Colby?"_

_"Maybe. We both know you have more to lose than I do. I'm sending you the override protocols you need. You call me the second you find out anything."_

Chloe merely looked over at Jack, pushing her anger aside. "We've got what we're looking for, Jack. Proof, at last."

Jack nodded. "Save all of it. I'll contact Reilly. We'll present the evidence to him, and he'll take care of it." _And once he does, it'll be all over. We'll be free, once and for all._


	22. Bottom line

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 22

Chase gripped the steering wheel tightly as he sped off towards CTU, keeping both eyes firmly on the road ahead. He glanced briefly behind him, making sure they weren't being followed. Tyler was sitting next to him, her right hand next to her weapon, ready to strike at any time. Jack and Chloe were in the back, Jack holding his weapon firmly in his hand. His other hand rested on Chloe's arm, drawing comfort from her presence. Chloe merely looked down at the laptops she held, not wanting to let them out of her sight for even a second. _This is it. Everything we've worked for is on these computers. We can finally put the past behind us for good. I just hope it's enough for Mr. Reilly._

Jack felt the tension running through Chloe, and he rubbed her arm reassuringly. "Chloe, it's going to be all right."

"I hope you're right, Jack. After all the hard work we did getting this evidence, I don't want it to be for nothing."

"We did everything we could. Now all we have to do is convince Reilly. That might not be an easy task. I don't know if we can even trust him to keep his end of the deal. You know what the people in power are like."

Chloe scowled. "I trust him. Mr. Reilly might play by the rules, but he's not a total hardass like Hammond is. If this proves our case, he'll let us go."

Jack frowned. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because he kept his word to me once before." On Jack's questioning look, she sighed. "Mr. Reilly created Project Carradon. The idea behind that hard drive was his. He recruited me personally to work on the project. Apparently, he had heard of my skills, and wanted them for his project. After I found out that the files I put in there were classified material, I immediately turned myself in, as well as giving up Michaels. Jack, Mr. Reilly could have sent me to prison for the rest of my life for what I had done, but he arranged it so I only had to spend a month in custody. He also allowed me to return to CTU." She glanced down at the laptops she held tightly. "I know we've had problems with people like Mr. Reilly before, but right now we have no choice but to trust him."

Jack felt his doubts about Reilly fade slightly. _Chloe doesn't trust people easily. If she believes he'll keep his word, then I guess I can as well. _"Fine."

"Jack, we're here" Chase called out, snapping Jack back to attention. Jack stuck his weapon back in its holster and opened the door, wheeling Chloe out quickly. Chloe handed Colby's laptop to Tyler so she could hold on to her chair, and the 4 former agents were escorted into the building by Doyle and Turner. Bypassing security, Jack saw Nadia waiting for them in the situation room, accompanied by an older man he guessed to be Reilly. He told hold of Chloe's chair and wheeled her into the sit room.

"Jack" Reilly greeted him. "Chloe. I must say I never expected to see you again."

"I know" Chloe replied quietly. "I just wish it was under better circumstances, sir."

Reilly acknowledged both Tyler and Chase, then turned to Jack. "I believe you have something for me."

"Yes, sir. We found what we were looking for: proof that Erin Driscoll was in fact involved in the kidnapping of my children and Chloe's imprisonment."

Reilly turned to Nadia. "That'll be all, Ms. Yassir."

Chloe shook her head. "She can stay if she wants, Mr. Reilly. I trust Nadia. So does everyone else."

Reilly shrugged. "Fine. Now what type of proof are we talking about?"

Chloe motioned to Tyler, who set Colby's laptop on the table next to Chloe. Chloe set up her own laptop and quickly got to work. "This is Kessler's laptop, sir. Tyler found it at an address Kessler gave her before he was killed. It contains not only communications between Kessler and Michaels, communications which prove they were involved in my imprisonment, but there's also a series of phone conversations between Erin and Kessler detailing her involvement as well." Chloe clicked on one of the files to play it for him.

_"Kessler here."_

_"It's Erin."_

_"What is it, Erin?"_

_"They're on to you, Colby."_

_"And how would you know that?"_

_"I recorded a phone conversation between one of my agents and Jack Bauer. They know you're holding Chloe in the prison, Colby. If I know Jack Bauer, he's on his way up there now to get her out."_

_"Erin, don't worry about it. Jack Bauer won't get near her. And even if he does, it's a prison. Michaels controls everything. Now I can promise that Jack Bauer and Chloe O'Brian won't be walking out of there."_

_"You had better be right, Colby, or they could blow this wide open. Neither of us can afford that."_

_"I'll take care of everything. I never leave a job half done, you know that. You just do your part."_

_"I know my role. So do you. You make sure that neither of them leaves there alive."_

Chloe pressed the stop button, looking over at Reilly. He was staring at the computers in disbelief. "I don't believe this" he muttered.

"I didn't want to believe it either, sir, but it's the truth" she replied.

Reilly scratched his chin. "Is that the extent of your proof?"

"No, sir. There are several of these calls on here." Chloe brought up another of the files.

_"Driscoll."_

_"It's Colby."_

_"What do you want, Colby?"_

_"Is it done?"_

_"Is what done?"_

_"What else would I be contacting you about? Are Bauer and Anderson out of CTU?"_

_"Yes, they are. The protocols you gave me worked. I was able to plant the information clearing Bauer and Anderson into the systems. They're out."_

_"When?"_

_"They were released from custody about 7 hours ago."_

_"7 hours?! Erin, you were supposed to tell me the second they were released, so I could get to them. Now we're behind schedule. Bauer and his friends won't be exposed for long, and we may have lost our only shot to get to them before they got home."_

_"Don't yell at me, Colby. I had no way to contact you until you called me just now. Besides, none of this would have happened if you had done your job at the prison. Look, you got to them once already. No reason you can't do it again."_

_"That one time was because I had the element of surprise. Bauer let his guard down, and I was able to take advantage of that. Not this time. They'll come home, and they'll be waiting for me."_

_"I don't want to hear your excuses, Colby. I did my part. Do yours."_

_"Fine. I'll do my job. But just remember, Erin- once this job is done, don't you ever contact me again. Because if you do, I will kill you."_

_"Don't you threaten me. You even think of carrying out that threat-"_

_"What are you going to do? Try and kill me? Please. You're a desk jockey. I was a field agent for over 10 years. I could kill you before you so much as blink. So don't play that game with me. I'll call you to confirm that Bauer, O'Brian, Anderson, and that little pissant brother of mine are all dead."_

_"You had better not screw this up."_

Chloe shut off the file. "That's just a portion of what we found, Mr. Reilly. The rest of the conversations are there, if you want to listen to them."

Reilly gazed at her impassively. "How do you know these conversations are legitimate, Chloe? They could have been fabricated."

"They're real, sir. We checked them out before we contacted you. Any forged conversation has at least one tell in it, whether it's the tone of voice, or the background noise, or something along those lines. These audio files don't have those. Even the best programmers can't fix every mistake."

"Could Kessler have found a way to do it?"

Tyler scoffed. "No, he couldn't have. If Chloe says it can't be done, then I believe her."

Reilly glanced at Tyler. "Tyler, you worked with Kessler before. Why would he just leave this information behind? It would have sent him to prison."

"And sent everyone he was working with to prison as well, sir. I only got a hold of that laptop because Colby gave me the address where it was located. He wanted me to find it."

"To mislead you?"

"No, sir" Tyler replied. "Sir, Colby tried to kill me. That was after he killed his brother. He was determined to finish things between us. I think he knew that there was a chance he would die. And if he was going down, everyone around him was as well." She sighed. "Mr. Reilly, I believe that evidence is genuine. I know how Colby worked, and I trust my sister implicitly. Colby was never an expert with computers, and Chloe is. If she says this is real, then it's real."

Reilly nodded slightly. "There's still one more thing, Jack. I know about the history you and Chloe have with Erin. The three of you have issues with each other- serious issues. She fired both of you for legitimate reasons. You could be implicating her for payback."

Chloe closed her laptop. "Mr. Reilly, if Jack and I had wanted payback, we would have gotten it a long time ago. Until our children were kidnapped, we were out of the game for good. The past was going to stay in the past. But all we want is justice. After this is over, we're done." Seeing that Reilly still had doubts, Chloe moved in for the kill. "Sir, in all our dealings in the past, I have never once lied to you. I have no reason to now. You could have us sent away for years. I don't want to spend another day behind bars. Please, Mr. Reilly. We're telling you the truth."

"...Very well. I'll have a TAC team bring her here for questioning. In the meantime, your evidence will be analyzed by the people here to confirm that it's legitimate." He took a quick look at Chloe's injured leg. "Chloe, have you had that leg checked out?"

"We haven't had time, sir, with everything that's been going on."

"Go down to Medical and get checked out. If anyone has any problems, tell them I gave the order." Reilly nodded to Nadia, who began making calls to her people to analyze their evidence. Jack, who knew he was being dismissed, pulled Chloe away from the table and took her down to Medical. This is too easy. Something's going to happen, I can feel it.

2424242424

"So what's the bottom line?" Chloe asked the physician on duty later, after he had checked her injury out.

"It's not good news, Ms. O'Brian. The scan revealed that the nerves in your leg are almost totally dead. They were already weakened by the blow you took. When the bone snapped, it caused the nerves to sever. Had you been able to get it treated right away, we could have saved some of them. But it's too late now. There's nothing that can be done to fix it."

Chloe stared at him in disbelief. "Are you saying that I'll never be able to walk again?"

He nodded solemnly. "That's exactly what I'm saying. The only thing we can do is put your leg in a cast so the bones can heal properly. I'm sorry, but at this point, you'll be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of your life. Other than that, though, you're completely healthy. I can have you transferred to County General for another opinion if you want."

"Thank you, Dr. Besson, but we'll take care of this" Jack replied. He watched Dr. Besson leave, then turned to Chloe. Tears were running down her cheeks, and she made no effort to stop them. "I'm sorry, Chloe."

"This isn't fair, Jack. Everything I did to be able to walk again, it was all for nothing. I'm going to be stuck in this stupid chair for the rest of my life."

"I know it's not fair, Chloe. You don't deserve this. You deserve to be able to walk. I will do whatever I have to to make sure that happens. But... even if there really is nothing we can do, don't worry. I'll still be here for you. We'll be okay. Trust me."

"...I do trust you, Jack. The only thing that matters is I have you, and our children, and our friends. This still hurts, though."

"I know. But this thing is almost over. Once it is, you and I will take that vacation we talked about, and spend time together." He was interrupted by his phone ringing. "Bauer."

"Jack, it's Mike. We've got Erin."


	23. Reilly's confession

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 23

"You've got her?"

"Yeah. We're bringing her in for questioning. We should be there in a couple minutes."

_Thank god. _"That's- that's great. Thank you, Mike."

"Jack? You okay?"

"Yeah" he replied quietly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Well, you don't sound fine. What's going on?"

"I'll explain once you get back to CTU. Just keep me informed." Jack hung up, turning to Chloe. "That was Mike. They're bringing Erin in for questioning."

"They got her? Are you serious?"

"Yes. Chloe, I want you to stay here until this is over."

Chloe glared at Jack furiously. "Not a chance. I want to be there when they question her."

Now it was Jack's turn to glare. "If you think for a second I am letting you anywhere near Erin, you're wrong."

"Don't you dare treat me like a child, Jack" she yelled. "I am more than capable of making my own decisions. You can't protect me from the truth forever, no matter what you think."

Jack stooped down and grabbed her shoulders roughly. "This is not about that!"

"Then what is it about?! Jack, you heard what Dr. Besson said. I am never going to walk again. We'll deal with that, but all I want right now is to find out why she did this to me. I want to hear it from her."

"Forget it, Chloe. If I have to lock you in this room, I will."

Chloe brushed him off. "Jack, please. I need this. I want to move on, and I can't do that without facing her. Now what is really going on?"

Jack looked down. "I don't want you to get hurt again. You know how bad things get between the two of you."

"I'm not going to get hurt. She won't even know I'm there." She gave Jack a pleading look. "I've never asked you for anything. I'm asking now. Please."

"...Fine. I'll see if Reilly will let you sit in on this." Jack pulled out his phone. "Mr. Reilly, it's Jack."

"She's okay, sir."

"Yes, sir. There is one thing- Chloe wants to sit in while you interrogate Erin."

"Yes, sir, I know she's not cleared, but Chloe insisted on it."

"Mr. Reilly, Chloe helped us bring Erin down. She deserves to know the truth."

"Thank you, sir. I will." He hung up. "He agreed. He wants you to come to Holding Room 3."

She nodded. "Let's go." Chloe adeptly moved past Jack and left Medical, heading towards the interrogation rooms. The guard outside stopped her. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but only authorized personnel are permitted beyond this point."

"It's okay, Glenn" Reilly said, coming out of the interrogation room. "Chloe has been cleared to sit in on this. Let her through."

"Yes, sir." The guard stood aside, allowing Chloe to enter the observation area. Chloe wheeled herself inside, staring through the one-way at the woman inside. Driscoll was sitting down, her eyes firmly fixed on the table. Her posture was that of a defeated woman, and Chloe couldn't suppress the feeling of satisfaction she felt. _Now she knows how I felt._

"How are you doing, Chloe?" Reilly asked.

Chloe scowled. "They said I'll never be able to walk again. My leg is dead."

"Is there anything we can do?"

"No. Dr. Besson made that perfectly clear, sir. It's not the end of the world, though. Jack and I will get through this. And my children are safe. Losing my ability to walk is nothing compared to losing my kids." Chloe quickly shut up. _He doesn't need to know that._

"If there's anything I can do, just let me know. I'll take care of it personally."

Chloe glanced at him. "Why are you doing this, sir? This is the second time you've stuck your neck out for me."

Reilly didn't respond, keeping his eyes on Driscoll. Chloe cleared her throat. "Mr. Reilly, what's going on? You're the national director of CTU. Why would you risk your career to help me out?"

"...I'm fulfilling a promise I made years ago. I'm a man of honor, Chloe. I keep my promises."

"A promise to whom?"

"Your father."

_My father? _"You knew my father?"

Reilly nodded. "Oh, yes. I knew your father very well. We grew up together. Back then, Julius and I were closer than brothers. It was almost impossible to see one of us without the other around. I was there when you and your siblings were born. He even named me godfather to your brother Jason."

"If this is true, sir, then how come I'd never even heard of you until that mess with the hard drive happened?"

"...We had... a situation. Your mother didn't care for me very much. My presence caused them a lot of arguments, and Julius began to drink because of that. On top of that, I was beginning my career with CTU, and he hated the government. When you were about 4 years old, we got into a fight. He told me that night if I was going to serve a 'corrupt, godless entity' like the government, I was no longer welcome in his life. That was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. In the end, I chose my career. That was the last time I ever saw Julius or Karen. You and Tyler were too young to remember. Jason, however, was old enough. He tracked me down and we kept in touch. I told him not to tell either of you about me until you were old enough to make your own decisions in life."

"Jason kept me informed about what was going on in your lives, the problems the three of you were having with your parents, things like that. He told me about the situation you were in with your son, and asked me for help. I was able to help cut through most of the red tape, so Jason could raise him. When Jason died, I arranged it so your son would have a good home. Your brother also told me about your skills with computers. He asked me to give you a position in CTU once you were out of college. I told him I would do what I could."

Chloe stared at Reilly in confusion. "What promise did you make to my father?"

"Believe it or not, Chloe, Julius loved you. He loved all his children. When you were born, he made me promise that if you, Tyler, or Jason were ever in trouble, serious trouble, I would do what I could to help you out. That's what I'm doing."

"Then why didn't you try to get me out of captivity, sir? I spent 2 years in that hell. I almost died there. I would have, if Jack hadn't found me."

Reilly looked down. "I tried to find you. Mr. Burke was very good at keeping you hidden. We didn't know where you had been until you turned up in the hospital."

Chloe glanced over at the one-way, watching Driscoll for a few moments. "Sir, why didn't you tell me you knew my father when I first met you?"

"Because you were going through a rough time, dealing with Michaels and his brother. I didn't want to add any more problems to your life. And I didn't want you to feel like you owed me anything in return."

Chloe absently rubbed her hands. "That's why you kept me out of prison, and let me stay at CTU."

"Not just that time. You caused quite a few fires all the times you went off protocol to help Jack out. Some of your superiors wanted you fired on more than one occasion. Most of the time, I was able to keep you on. When she forced you to resign, however, there was nothing I could do. We were in the middle of a crisis, and my attention was needed elsewhere. I pushed Bill Buchanan to have you permanently reinstated at the end of the day, once the crisis was over." He stuck his hands in his pockets. "I know this is hard for you to believe, but it's true."

"No, I believe you, sir." Chloe's attention was suddenly diverted to the one-way. Doyle had entered the room and was beginning the interrogation.

"We'll talk more later" Reilly told her, focusing his attention on the interrogation.

2424242424

"Answer the question" Doyle snapped, slamming his hand down in front of Driscoll. She stared at him defiantly.

"Erin, you've sat through enough of these interrogations to know what's going to happen to you if you don't cooperate with us. You know I can force you to talk to me."

"If you're trying to scare me, Mike, you're doing a bad job of it."

Doyle felt his temper rising and fought to contain it. _She's just trying to bait you. Stay in control. _"We know what you did. We have proof. All the conversations you had with Agent Kessler." On Driscoll's slightly shocked look, Doyle glared. "That's right, Erin. We know everything. Your little scheme is over. You failed. Not only is she free, but you've lost everything. Just tell me why you did this."

"I'm not telling you anything, Mike."

Doyle reached across the table and nearly grabbed Driscoll's shirt, but pulled back at the last second. "You're trying to make me lose control. Not going to happen. By the time Agent Burke's done with you, you'll be begging to talk. You don't want to go there."

"You misunderstood me. I said I wouldn't talk to you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'll give up everything I know, but not to you. Bring Chloe in here."

"Absolutely not" Doyle barked. "I am not letting her anywhere near you."

"You want my information? Then bring Chloe in here now."

"No. You are going to talk to me. Leave her out of this."

Driscoll merely gazed at Doyle. "She's going to hear about it anyway." Her gaze shifted towards the one-way. "She's in there, isn't she? Watching us right now?" A slight smirk appeared on her face, her eyes looking almost directly at Chloe. "Hello, Chloe. I know you're in there."

Chloe shuddered. _How did she know I was watching?_

"You're talking to me. Chloe's not here" Doyle said, stepping in front of Driscoll quickly. "Now answer my question."

"I told you what you had to do. Now bring Chloe here, or you won't get anything from me."

Reilly flipped on the intercom. "Agent Doyle, please come here."

Doyle shot a nasty glare at Driscoll before leaving the room, joining Reilly and Chloe in the observation area. "Yes, sir?"

"I need to know, Agent Doyle- can you get her to talk to you, or do we need to bring in Agent Burke?"

Doyle shook his head. "Sir, she won't say a word unless it's directly to Chloe."

Reilly crossed his arms. "Fine. Get Agent Burke."

"No, wait" Chloe interrupted. Both Doyle and Reilly turned to look at her. "I'll talk to her."

"Forget it, Chloe" Doyle said quickly. "Jack won't let that happen."

Chloe gave him one of her trademark looks, and Doyle stepped back slightly. "Jack's not here. I am. You want to find out what she knows? Then let me talk to her."

"Chloe-"

Chloe turned on Reilly. "You think I want to get anywhere near that woman, sir? No. But I want to move on. The sooner we find out what she knows, the sooner I can do that. If that means having to face her, I will."

Doyle opened his mouth to argue, but was stopped by Reilly's hand on his arm. "I'll agree to this, Chloe, on one condition- Agent Doyle doesn't leave your side."

"I don't have a problem with that, sir." Chloe waited for Doyle to open the door to the interrogation room, then wheeled herself in. Driscoll looked up as she approached. "Hello, Chloe. This is different. Usually you're the one sitting here facing prison."

"Knock it off" Doyle snapped, coming in to stand next to Chloe. "You said you would only talk to Chloe. Here she is. Now talk."

"Not just yet. Mike, give us some space."

"You don't make demands, Erin. You're not in control here."

"Mike, do it" Chloe said harshly. Doyle moved over to Driscoll, firmly securing her to the table, then backing off. Chloe wheeled herself close to the table and leaned forward. "Talk. Now."


	24. No remorse

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 24

"Come on, Erin, talk to me" Chloe repeated for the 4th time, as Driscoll continued to sit in silence, the look on her face unchanged. "You said you would only tell me what you knew. Here I am. Now talk."

Driscoll smirked. "It's bothering you, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You want to know what I know. I have the information you and your superiors need, and you're jumping through hoops to get it. That bothers you."

Chloe slammed her hand on the table. "This isn't a game, Erin. It's serious. Why did you help Kessler and Michaels put me in prison? Our feud was over the moment I left CTU, at least my part."

"Because it's where you belonged, Chloe."

Chloe shot a quick look at Doyle. "I didn't belong in prison, Erin. Why would you think that?"

"Because it's the truth" Driscoll retorted. "You deserved to be locked up for the rest of your life."

"I didn't do anything wrong."

"You failed to follow orders, Chloe. Regardless of how you feel about orders, they're there for a reason. You can't just decide not to follow the rules you feel are unnecessary."

_What is she talking about?_ "Erin, I have no idea what you're going on about."

"When you resigned after you were caught hacking into an active satellite to send Jack Bauer information, that was enough for me. I had finally gotten rid of a problem, and proven to everyone else why rules must be followed. But everything changed when Michelle Dessler brought you back in. She stepped all over the decision I had made. She was rewarding you for your disregard of the rules."

"Some reward" Chloe scoffed. "I almost got killed."

"It would have served you right" Driscoll replied.

"Erin, that's enough" Doyle cut in, moving towards Driscoll menacingly. "I'm not going to stand here and listen to you insult one of my friends like that."

"Mike, please" Chloe cut him off. "Look at her. She can't touch me. I can take whatever verbal abuse she throws at me. Step back."

Shifting his hand to his gun, Doyle stepped back, and Chloe motioned for Driscoll to continue. "I spent months getting over the death of my daughter. But I had every intention of coming back. Only I come to find out that my services were no longer needed here. Apparently some of the higher-ups thought I had done a terrible job leading this unit. I was reassigned to Division. I had been removed from my command. And I found out later that you not only had been given your job back, you were given a commendation for your work that day."

"I couldn't believe it. I had done nothing but follow the rules, and I lost everything. You had done nothing but break the rules, and you didn't lose anything. That's when I wanted payback."

"Oh, really? Then why did you tell Kessler you already got your _payback _on me?"

Driscoll scowled. "How do you know that?"

Chloe glared. "We have all the phone conversations between you and Kessler recorded, Erin. You told him you were satisfied with firing me. So don't waste my time."

"Come on, Chloe. You know how these things work. I didn't know if I could trust him."

"So you were trying to blow him off." Chloe glanced down at her laptop screen. "So, basically what you're telling me is that you conspired with a former CTU director, and a former CIA agent, to send me to prison, because I got my job back?"

"Not only that. I was mad with grief. I still grieve. My daughter was taken from me."

"I had nothing to do with your daughter!" Chloe shouted. "I wasn't even here! I am sorry you lost your child, Erin. I really am. But don't you dare try and blame me for her death." She sank back into her chair. "Do you have any idea what I've been through since I left CTU? I spent 2 years in hell. 2 years. You read my debrief. You know what happened to me there. 1 year after that was spent recovering from that nightmare. And just when I finally get my life back on track, you ruined everything. Look at me. I will never be able to walk again. Your plot took that from me. You think what I went through, compared to what you went through, is a fair trade?"

"No, I don't. You didn't suffer nearly enough."

Chloe jerked her head up in shock, seeing the lack of remorse in Driscoll's eyes. _She doesn't feel the least bit regretful for what she did. _"You're pathetic."

"I'm pathetic? I'm not the one who's forced to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of my life."

Doyle strode over and backhanded Driscoll quickly. "Show some respect!"

"Don't waste your time, Mike" Chloe said quietly. "She doesn't have any regret for what she did." Turning back to Driscoll, Chloe glanced back down at her screen. "Continue."

2424242424

Jack paced back and forth in the situation room, waiting for Chloe to return. Tyler and Chase had left CTU after Jack had told them what Dr. Besson had said concerning Chloe's condition. Tyler had wanted to stay until Chloe was finished with Driscoll's interrogation, but Jack and Nadia forced them to take off. Now Nadia was tied up dealing with the situation, and Jack was growing restless. _Why is this taking so long?_

"Mr. Bauer, please calm down" the guard assigned to watch Jack said.

"I'm sorry. I can't. Not until my wife is back." Jack glanced down at the phone, picking it up. "This is Jack Bauer. I need to speak to Stuart Reilly immediately."

"One moment."

"Jack?"

"Mr. Reilly, what's going on? Why is this taking so long?"

"Jack, you know how these interrogations are. Erin was being uncooperative. She's talking now. It'll only be a few more minutes."

"Let me speak to Chloe."

"...I'm sorry, Jack. Chloe's unavailable."

"Unavailable?" Jack said in disbelief. "Where is she?"

"Jack, Chloe's the one doing the interrogation."

"What?"

Reilly put his hand on his forehead. "The only way Erin would talk to us is if she could talk to Chloe."

"How could you let Chloe talk to her alone?"

"First of all, Jack, she's not alone. Agent Doyle's in there with her. Second of all, this was Chloe's decision, not mine."

Jack slammed the phone down in anger and took off running towards the holding rooms, his guard hot on his heels. The guard outside the rooms stood firm as Jack approached. "I'm sorry, sir. Mr. Reilly has given us orders to keep you out until further notice."

"Get out of my way, now" Jack hissed dangerously, reaching for the guard. The second guard pulled out his taser and slammed it into Jack's neck, taking him down. Once Jack was secure, he pulled out his walkie. "We've got Bauer, Mr. Reilly. He was trying to get in."

"Take him into Holding Room 1 until we're finished" Reilly ordered. Jack was dragged to his feet and marched down the hallway, the guards making sure he couldn't break away. Jack was brought into Holding Room 1 and firmly restrained. "You can't keep me here" he snapped."

"You're only being detained until the interrogation is complete. Then you'll be released."

"If anything happens to my wife, I will hold you responsible." Jack leaned back in the chair to wait. _Chloe, please be careful._

2424242424

"So that's all you know?" Chloe asked.

"I've told you everything" Driscoll replied. Chloe stared at her. "I've lost everything, Chloe. I have no reason not to cooperate anymore."

Chloe grabbed her laptop from the table and pushed away. "Fine." Nodding to Doyle, she wheeled herself into the observation area. "I don't think she's going to tell us anything else, sir."

"Just as well" Reilly said. "We got what we were looking for. Justice is sending someone here to have her transported to Federal to begin trial. Once she's gone, you can go. All charges against you and your family and friends will be dropped."

"All charges?"

"Yes. I know about Craig Hartwell, Chloe. He assaulted you, and you killed him. You won't be charged for that."

"Thank you, Mr. Reilly."

Reilly pulled a small slip of paper out of his pocket. "We still need to talk about your father, Chloe. I want you to call me in a couple days. There's my number."

Chloe took the paper, sticking it into her purse. "I'll do that, sir." She frowned. "Where's Jack? I want to tell him."

"Jack found out about you interrogating Erin. He tried to stop it. I had him placed in Holding until you were finished. You can go see him." Reilly's phone buzzed. "Reilly."

"Tell him I'll be right out." He hung up. "That was quick. The rep from Justice is already here. You go see Jack, and inform the guards he's been released. I'll take care of this."

"Yes, sir." Chloe took one last look at Driscoll before leaving the observation area and heading towards Holding Room 1. As the guard stepped in her way, Chloe scowled. "Mr. Reilly released Jack from holding. Let me pass."

"Yes, of course." She let herself in, going right up to Jack. "Jack, look at me."

Jack glared at her. "Chloe, what were you thinking? I told you not to go anywhere near her, and you did."

"Yes, I did. In case you've forgotten, Jack, I'm an adult. I can make my own decisions. Besides, Mike was right there. She was restrained. She couldn't have hurt me. And we got what we needed."

"You promised me you wouldn't go near her, that you were going to watch from the observation area."

Chloe sighed. "I had no intention of going near her. But she would only talk to me." She reached out her hand, guiding Jack's eyes towards her. "I know you're mad at me, Jack. But it's over. We can go home, get on with our lives. Let's do that."

Jack felt his anger fade at Chloe's plea. "I'm sorry, Chloe. You're right. Let's go home."


	25. Following protocol

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 25

Reilly strode through CTU quickly, ignoring the stares of the workers as he made his way to the situation room. _I hope I'm doing the right thing here. I could lose my job. But this woman and her cohorts hurt two people I promised to look out for. She deserves to be locked up for what she did to Chloe and Tyler. They deserve to live their lives in peace after all they've been through._

"Stuart." Reilly looked over to see Brad Hammond standing by, his usual sour demeanor firmly in place.

"Brad. I didn't know Justice would be sending you to take care of this" Reilly replied coolly.

"Don't start, Stuart. I have a job to do, so let's not waste time."

"Fine. Follow me." Reilly led Hammond into the sit room. "I assume you've been brought up to speed?"

"Yes. But before we take over, I just want to know what the hell you were thinking, Stuart."

"What are you talking about?"

Hammond thrust a piece of paper at Reilly. "You allowed an unauthorized person access to a suspect."

Reilly scanned the paper, scowling as he read it. "First of all, Brad, I run this agency, not you. You have no jurisdiction over this building. I granted Chloe temporary authorization so she could question Erin. That decision allowed us to find out what she knew, and she told us everything, without the use of invasive interrogation."

"O'Brian should never have been allowed anywhere near this. She was too emotionally involved."

"Not from what I could see" Reilly said.

Hammond shook his head. "O'Brian is not a trained interrogator, Stuart. But that doesn't matter to you, does it?"

Reilly stared at Hammond questioningly. "What?"

"Oh, come on. You know what I'm talking about. You've always been blind when it comes to O'Brian. All the times you've interceded on her behalf."

"So? Chloe is one of the best this agency has ever had. She might have broken her share of rules, but her only concern was doing her job, Brad."

Hammond scoffed. "We have rules for a reason, Stuart. What kind of message does it send when the national director of CTU allows a loose cannon to break whatever rules she wants, as long as the job gets done?"

Reilly resisted the urge to throttle Hammond and merely turned away. "Like I said, how I run this agency is not your concern. Our job is to protect this country, keep the people safe. And if a protocol gets broken in the process, then fine." He turned back to face Hammond. "Besides, you weren't too concerned about following protocol when you debriefed Chloe, now were you?"

"I'll thank you not to mention that again."

"Are you still upset that I fired you over that? You were given specific orders not to debrief Chloe until she had more time to recover from her imprisonment, and you disregarded those orders. I had every right to terminate your employment."

Hammond glared. "So basically what you're saying is, it's okay for O'Brian to violate protocol, but not others?"

"I didn't say that" Reilly snapped. "Your debrief accomplished nothing, except for forcing her to relive a horrific ordeal too soon."

"That's your interpretation."

"Enough!" Reilly slammed his hand down. "This discussion is over. Now I'll have the transcripts of Erin Driscoll's interrogation sent to you for your review. Once that's done, take her to Federal."

"Very well." Hammond gathered his papers. "I expect this agency's full cooperation in this investigation."

"And you'll have it." Without dismissing the other man, Reilly turned and stormed out, heading back towards the interrogation rooms. _This is ridiculous. How dare he come in like he owns the place. Well, he'll soon be gone. _He glanced down at his hands. _On the other hand, I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this. Perhaps it's time I stepped down. Not until this case is over, though._

2424242424

"Excuse me, Ms. O'Brian?" Chloe looked up as she was being addressed. "Mr. Reilly wants to see you and Mr. Bauer in the situation room immediately."

"We'll be right there." Chloe turned to Jack. "What do you think he wants, Jack?"

"Probably to give us an update. Let's just go see what he wants."

"Fine by me." Chloe allowed Jack to wheel her out of the break room and down the hall to the situation room. She scowled as she saw Hammond standing next to both Reilly and Nadia. "What the hell is Hammond doing here?"

"I have no idea. Guess we'll find out." Pushing aside the door, Jack eased Chloe into the sit room, setting her chair across from Hammond. "You wanted to see us, Mr. Reilly?"

"Yes, Jack. You know Brad Hammond. He's here from Justice. They're taking over this case."

"Unfortunately, I do. Now what's going on?"

Hammond set some papers in front of both Chloe and Jack. "These are your official statements regarding this matter. Check them to make sure they're accurate."

Jack quickly read over his statement. "It's in order."

"Wait a minute" Chloe said, scanning over a section of her statement. She thrust it back at Hammond. "I'm not taking responsibility for that."

Hammond picked it up. "What's the problem?"

"The problem is, Mr. Hammond, I don't remember stating that I would serve time for involuntary manslaughter."

Reilly snatched the document out of Hammond's hands. "Brad, what the hell is this?"

"O'Brian was responsible for the death of a lawful federal official."

"An official that violated prison protocol, and assaulted an inmate. One that should not have been in that position in the first place. We agreed to have the charges dropped."

"You made that decision, Stuart. And you don't have jurisdiction over federal prisons."

Reilly grabbed Hammond's shirt, pulling him close. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret,_ Brad_. You might be aware of the recent revisions to the Patriot Act. One of those revisions gives CTU jurisdiction over federal prisons, specifically with regards to current and former CTU agents. Since Chloe is a former CTU agent, she falls under that rule, which means CTU had jurisdiction. She is free of all charges. Now fix the statement." He lowered his voice so only Hammond could hear. "If you ever pull a stunt like this again, I will make it my personal mission to ensure you never work for the government ever again." Reilly let go.

Hammond dusted himself off. "Very well." He pulled a copy of the statement out of his bag. Chloe grabbed it, read it thoroughly, then picked up a pen and signed it. "There."

Jack signed his as well, handing it to Hammond. He gathered them up, sticking them in his bag. "That's done. Now, as for Erin Driscoll. She offered to give up all her information on this case, in exchange for a lighter sentence. She'll serve 10 years in prison."

"10 years?!" Chloe almost shouted. "Mr. Hammond-"

"Enough, O'Brian" he said, holding up his hand. "10 years in prison, plus another 20 under surveillance."

Reilly merely nodded. "Fine. Take her away."

Hammond collected his papers, walking out. Chloe and Jack both rounded on Reilly. "Sir, how can you let him do this?"

"I don't have a choice, Jack. The agreement Brad made prevents CTU from interfering in any way. We put Erin away for years. She can't ever hurt your and your family again." He glanced at the time. "Look, your job is done. You brought Erin to justice. You two did exactly what you set out to do. Now it's time for you to go live your lives, away from here. Go home."

Jack opened his mouth to argue, but shut it quickly, and made a move to wheel Chloe out. Reilly stopped him. "Let me speak to her for a minute." Jack walked out, leaving Chloe alone with Reilly.

"What is it, sir?"

"Chloe, please don't be angry with me. I really didn't have a choice in this matter. If I had pushed for a tougher sentence, you could have been charged with the death of Craig Hartwell. This way you'll stay out of prison."

_He agreed to this, to help me? _"I understand, sir. Thank you."

"There's one more thing. Don't tell anyone about this until it's been finalized." He rubbed his forehead. "I'm retiring as national director of CTU."

"Sir?"

"I'm almost 70 years old, Chloe. I've been working for the government since before you were born. It's time to let the next generation take over."

Chloe frowned. "Why now?"

"Because it's the right time. And I want to spend the last few years of my life my way. Besides, this'll give me time to get to know you better- if you want."

She smiled. "Of course I want that, sir."

Reilly gave her a stern look, then smiled. "I'm not your boss anymore, Chloe. Stuart is fine."

"Okay... Stuart."

"Good. Now that that's settled, have you and Jack given any thought as to what you want to do with your lives?"

She nodded. "A little bit. But our first priority is taking care of our children. Whatever comes after that, we'll deal with it."

"Fair enough." Reilly opened the door for Chloe. "Go on, Chloe. Jack's probably waiting for you. You have my number. Call me anytime, day or night."

"I will. Goodbye, Stuart. And thank you." Chloe shook his hand, then left the building. Jack was standing outside with Doyle. "You ready to go, Chloe?"

"Yeah, I am. I just want to go home."

"Me too." Jack turned to Doyle. "Thank you, Mike. I know you risked a lot to help us. I owe you more than I can ever repay."

Doyle merely shook his head firmly. "You don't owe me a thing, Jack. But there is something I wanted to tell you guys."

"What's that?"

"Nadia and I are leaving CTU. We turned in our resignations this morning."

"You resigned?" Chloe asked.

"Yes. After this whole mess happened, I realized that this job wasn't what I wanted anymore. And Nadia feels the same way. We don't want anything to happen to each other because of this job. We both want to be there for our children. My dad wasn't there for me growing up. You know how dangerous field work is. My kids deserve to have their father around."

"Well, you're a lot smarter than I was, Mike" Jack replied. "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know yet" Doyle admitted. "But we still have some time to figure it out." His phone beeped. "I gotta get back to work. You guys go home, get some rest." He walked back into the building quickly.

"Come on, Jack. Let's go." Chloe pushed her chair into the van and shut the door, locking herself firmly in place. Jack took a quick look at the building behind him, then got in himself and started the van up, leaving the parking lot and heading for their home.


	26. Back to normal

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 26

_Three years later..._

"Chloe! I'm home!"

Chloe jumped as her husband's voice carried through the house. _Does he really have to do that every time he comes home? _Setting aside her laptop, she wheeled herself out of her study and into the living room. "Hey, Jack. How'd it go?"

"Great. They had what we were looking for. Last ones in stock, too."

Chloe scowled. "I could have just gotten them online, you know. You wouldn't have had to drive to 6 stores to get them."

Jack gave Chloe a scorching glare, and Chloe rolled her eyes. "I know, I know. No deliveries."

"Exactly. We can't trust anyone we don't know."

"Yeah, I know." Chloe looked down.

"You all right?" Jack asked.

"I'm fine, Jack. I'm just a little tired today, that's all."

"Come on, Chloe. I know you better than that. What's on your mind?"

"...It's been 3 years, Jack. 3 years since our children were kidnapped. We went through hell to get them back, and since then, our lives have been relatively peaceful. As peaceful as raising 3 children can be, anyway."

Jack stared at her in confusion. "Isn't that what we wanted? We wanted our children to have the chance to live their lives without fear, and that's happening."

"I know that." Chloe sighed. "I'm just worried, that's all."

"Worried about what?"

"That we'll never really be free of the past. We both made our fair share of enemies when we worked for the government. How many of them are just waiting for us to drop our guard, so they can hurt us? Or worse, hurt the kids? Look what happened the last time we let ourselves get complacent. That could happen again."

"Chloe, I know how you feel. Believe me, I feel the same way. But you can't let that fear control your life. The best thing you can do for our children, for yourself, is to go out there and live your life on your terms." Jack sat down and pulled his wife close. "Besides, no matter what the future holds, we're going to be here for each other."

_He's right. He's always right. _"Thanks, Jack. I'm sorry. I guess I'm just being a little paranoid."

"No, you're being a concerned mother. Nothing wrong with that." He let go. "Speaking of, where are the kids?"

"Connor took them to the park for a couple hours. I was trying to finish that firewall upgrade for Twin Rock, and they wouldn't leave me alone long enough to get it done."

Jack gave her a stern look. "I told him not to buy them anything, Jack."

"You know how Connor gets when he's around those 3. They want something, they beg him for it, and he gives in every time."

"And I told him if he did, it was going to be the last time he took them anywhere for a while."

"Fine." Jack handed Chloe the package he had brought. "Here. The gifts for the kids."

Chloe carefully inspected the contents, checking for any problems. "They're perfect. The kids'll love them." She looked up as she heard a car approaching. "They're back. Go hide these in the gun safe. Hurry."

Jack took the package back and went up the stairs. No sooner had he disappeared, then the front door opened and Connor walked in followed by 2 very muddy kids, and a glum-looking, yet nearly spotless David. "Mom, we're home."

"I noticed" she said dryly, then smiled. "Did you guys have fun?"

"Yeah" Teri said. "We had a lot of fun."

"Good." Chloe grew serious. "You guys are a mess. Go get washed up. It's lunch time."

"Aw" Edgar whined. "Do we have to, mom? We're not that dirty."

"Yes, you have to. I can barely see you under all that mud." She pointed towards the bathrooms. "Now go."

Teri shrugged and followed Edgar out of the room. David, however, turned to go up to his room, his head bent down.

"David? What's wrong?"

David shuffled his feet, shaking his head, refusing to look at his mother. "Nothing."

Chloe moved her chair close to David, gently raising his head to force him to look at her. "What's wrong, honey?"

"...Teri and Edgar wouldn't let me play with them."

_Oh, brother. Not again. _Chloe glanced quickly at Connor, then back at David. "So what did you do?"

"Connor let me sit with him, but I really wanted to play with Edgar and Teri. They never let me play, though."

"David, you have to stand up for yourself. Don't let your brother and sister push you around like that." She could see tears forming in David's eyes, and she pulled him on her lap. "Look, I'll talk to them."

"No. Don't do that. They'll just think I'm a tattletale."

"No, they won't." Chloe set David down. "Go get cleaned up, son. Then we'll have lunch."

"I'm not hungry, mom. Can- can I just go play in my room instead?"

"...All right. If you get hungry later, let me know." David nodded and ran up the stairs. Chloe shook her head, then turned to Connor. "What happened, Connor?"

"I don't know, mom. I was sitting watching them, then David comes up to me practically in tears, telling me Edgar and Teri wouldn't let him join in. I offered to talk to them, but he said he was tired anyway. I let him sit with me until we left."

Chloe rubbed her forehead wearily. "I don't know what's going on with those two lately. Jack said it was normal, but I don't think so." She heard Jack coming down the stairs. "You want to stay for lunch?"

"No, I've got plans this afternoon. I'll be back tomorrow, though. Those 3 would never forgive me if I missed their birthday."

She smirked. "Tell me about it. You go on, then. Thanks for taking care of the kids."

"Anytime, mom. I'll see you later." Connor left, and Jack joined her in the living room. "Jack, we have to talk."

"About what?"

"The kids. David told me that Teri and Edgar kept excluding him again today."

Jack frowned. "I told you that was normal. 3 people that spend as much time together as those kids do are bound to get sick of each other once in a while."

"Jack, Connor said David was really upset when they wouldn't let him play. He was almost in tears when he came home. This has been going on for a while now, and it's got to stop."

"Chloe, they're kids. This is normal sibling stuff."

Chloe glared at Jack. "Maybe to you, but not to me. When I was growing up, Jason always made sure Tyler and I were never left out. Even if we didn't want to join in, he still asked. I don't want David to grow up hating his family." She grabbed Jack's hand. "Look, can we just talk to them? Please?"

"All right. We'll do it now." Jack moved to the stairs. "Teri! Edgar! Come on down here! Your mom and I want to talk to you!" He heard the thundering footsteps of the two kids as they joined their parents in the living room.

"Are we going to have lunch now?" Teri asked excitedly.

"In a few minutes. Your father and I need to talk to you about something first." Chloe looked at her children seriously. "Why wouldn't you let David play with you guys at the park today?"

"Because he messes everything up, mom. He's a crybaby."

"It's not nice to call your brother names, Edgar" Jack interjected.

"Well, it's true. We tried asking him what he wanted to do, and he wouldn't tell us."

_Wouldn't? Or couldn't? _"Look, guys, David is your brother. It hurts him when you two leave him out. Promise me you'll try to include him in the future, all right?"

"All right."

"Good. Now go sit down at the table. After lunch, I want you to apologize to David for what you did."

"Yes, sir." The kids shuffled off to eat, and Chloe looked at Jack expectantly. "That went well."

"Yeah. I hope they really listened, though."

"We'll see." Chloe sighed. "Jack, I'm concerned about David."

"Why? Is it because of what happened today?"

"Not just that. I didn't want to say anything before, but something's been bothering me. You know how we thought he couldn't speak because he didn't until last Christmas, right?" Jack nodded. "And how he wasn't walking until he was almost 3? I've watched him, Jack. He's not very coordinated, even for a kid his age. I don't know, maybe I'm just being silly, but something's not right."

"Chloe, he's a kid. I think it's a little premature to assume that something's wrong with him."

The glare Chloe gave Jack was enough for him to step back. "Don't do that, Jack. Don't dismiss my observations like that."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound like I was dismissing your ideas. All I'm saying is, let's give it some time. Maybe wait a couple of years and see what happens. If you still have concerns when David's a little older, then we'll have him checked out. That sound good to you?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Jack leaned in for a kiss.

"Mom! We're hungry!"

Chloe scowled, moving away from Jack. "And we just couldn't wait until they started talking." Shaking her head, she wheeled herself into the kitchen. Jack hung back, watching her.move, his thoughts on what Chloe had told him. _Could she be right? Is something wrong with my son? Or is it nothing? Well, no sense in standing here, worrying about it. Whatever happens in the future, we'll deal with it._


	27. You should have told me

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 27

"Twin Rock Securities, Herdman speaking."

"Hey, John, it's Chloe." Chloe was sitting on her bed, typing.

"Hey, Chloe. What's going on? Did you get the upgrade finished?"

"Yes. I've sent it to your techs for installation. I'm just keeping you informed, like you asked."

"Good. Once it's installed, and tested out, you'll be sent the rest of your payment."

"Thanks, John. Just let me know when that happens." Chloe grinned. _This freelance stuff is great. I can do what I love to do, get paid well for it, and not have to deal with jerks all day._

"Well, we're pleased with your work here, Chloe. None of the other programmers we approached with this job were as good, or as quick, as you've been." Chloe heard typing on the other end. "If you're ever interested in working for us full-time, I'm sure we could work something out."

"I told you, John, I like being a freelancer."

"Oh, well. Thought I'd try anyway. If you change your mind, let me know."

Chloe bit off a short laugh. "Not gonna happen." Her phone beeped. "I got another call. Call me when the upgrade's installed." She hit the call switch button on her phone. "Hello?"

"Chloe?"

Chloe's grin grew bigger. "Hello, Stuart. It's been a while."

"Yeah, it has. Did you get my package I sent you?"

"We got it the other day. Thanks for that. The kids just loved their presents from their Uncle Stuart."

"You're welcome. Although I don't understand why I couldn't just send it to you directly."

Chloe sniffed. "Jack doesn't want any deliveries. He's afraid that someone we pissed off before will try to get to us that way. If we need something, we go get it."

"Chloe, do you agree with him?" Reilly asked.

"To be honest, Stuart, I do agree somewhat. Look what happened before. We were both out of the game, and Kessler was still able to get to us. I'd love to have a completely normal life, but that's not totally possible. We have to give up some things. As long as Teri, David, and Edgar are safe, and unharmed, that's all that matters to me. I can deal with a little inconvenience."

"Hmm. Well, as long as you're happy."

"I am" Chloe replied firmly. "I've got everything I've ever wanted, plus a few things I never expected. I don't have any regrets."

"That's good." Reilly smiled. "You know, if Julius was still alive, he'd be so proud of you."

"You think so?"

"I know so. That's all he ever wanted, was to see his kids be happy. At least when I was around." Reilly quickly changed the subject. "Listen, Maggie and I are coming to LA next month. Maybe we can get together then."

Chloe scowled at the mention of Reilly's daughter. _Why does he have to bring her along?_

"Chloe? You there?" Reilly sounded concerned.

"Yeah. I just wondered why Maggie's coming. She hates LA."

"She wants to see you two."

"You mean, see Jack." Chloe covered her mouth hastily. _Dammit._

"What?"

_Oh, dammit. Dammit. I shouldn't have said that. _"Nothing."

Reilly frowned. "Chloe, what is it?"

_Here we go. _"Did Maggie tell you what happened the last time she saw us?"

"No, she didn't say anything. What happened?"

"She started hitting on Jack, Stuart. He tried to get her to stop, but she wouldn't. I walked in on her trying to kiss him."

"What? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because we didn't want to cause trouble. Besides, I think she'd kill me if I did."

Reilly scratched his chin. "I'll talk to her. Tell her to stay away from Jack. No daughter of mine is going to be a homewrecker."

"Don't worry about it, Stuart. This is between me, her, and Jack. We'll handle it."

"Well, if you're sure. Look, I have to go. Dinner tonight with some Congresspeople." The tone of his voice told Chloe he had no interest in this dinner.

"All right. I'll see you soon." Chloe hung up, turning off her phone. She was about to shut her laptop down when David walked in. "Hey, sweetheart. What are you doing?"

"Mom, I'm bored. Will you play with me?"

Chloe frowned slightly as she saw David looking away from her. "Where are your brother and sister?"

"Dad took them to see baseball. I didn't want to go, though. I don't like baseball."

_Jack, you jerk. You're supposed to tell me when you leave. _"Just give me a couple minutes, David. Then we'll do something." Chloe started to shut down her laptop, but stopped as David was looking at it curiously.

"What is that?" he asked, pointing at her laptop eagerly.

"It's my computer, son. It's what I use to work with."

"What does it do?"

"It does a lot of things, David. Most of which I don't think you'd be able to understand right now."

"Can I have one?" David asked.

_Oh, boy. _"I think you're a little young for something like this, honey. Maybe when you get a bit older, then we'll see."

David pouted, but Chloe merely smiled. "Come on. Let me shut this down, then let's go." She powered down her laptop, then carefully got in her power chair and locked the laptop in her safe. Once that was done, she pulled David in her lap and took him downstairs to play. _Seems my son might be interested in computers. He's way too young for that, though. _A slight grin appeared on her face. _At least one of them takes after me in a good way._

2424242424

"Whoa! Slow down, Edgar!" Jack called out as his son raced past him.

"Sorry, dad."

"It's okay. Just be careful next time."

"Okay." Edgar grinned. "That was a great game, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was. You two were very well behaved." Jack looked behind him to see Teri walking up. "Remember what I told you guys. Don't talk about today in front of your brother unless he asks you about it, okay?"

The kids nodded. "All right."

"Good." Jack opened the door, only to be greeted by an enthusiastic hug from David. "Dad! You're back!"

"Hey, sport." Jack picked him up, then glanced over to the side to see Chloe sitting down, a scowl on her face. _Uh-oh. Not good._

"Dad? Can we go to the park tomorrow? Just us two?"

"If the weather's good, then we will." Jack set David down. "Your mom and I need to talk. Why don't you guys go play outside for a while?"

The kids took off, and Jack sighed. "How was your day?"

"It was fine- until my son comes up to tell me my husband took off without telling me where he was going."

_Definitely not good. Groveling time. _"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I should have told you I was leaving."

"Yes, you should have" she snapped. "I always tell you where I go, even if it's only for a few minutes. What if something happened to me while you were gone? Or, god forbid, David?"

Jack shuddered slightly at that thought. "I'm sorry. From now on, I'll make sure to tell you when I go somewhere."

"Thanks." Chloe moved close to Jack. "Well? How was it?"

"Great. The Dodgers won. And more importantly, the kids behaved themselves."

"You didn't stuff them, did you?"

Jack looked offended. "Of course not. I made sure they didn't eat too much."

"Good."

"How was David? I wanted to take him as well, but he said he didn't like baseball."

Chloe smirked. "David was fine. He saw me using my laptop and he asked for one for himself. I told him when he was a little older, we'd look into it." She shook her head. "He wanted to use the desktop, so I let him. Jack, he's a natural at it."

"Just like his mom" Jack said proudly.

"Yeah" she said a bit unenthusiastic.

"Something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong."

"Chloe, I told you-"

"I know what you told me, Jack" Chloe retorted hotly. "I can tell you when something's bothering me. It's David. I'm still worried about him. I know you said to wait a while, then we'd look in to it. And you're right about that. I just can't help worrying, that's all."

Jack frowned. "You're agreeing with me?"

"Yes. I thought about what you told me. He's only 4. I don't want this to affect him until he's old enough to deal with it." She jumped as her phone rang. "Yeah?"

"Mom?"

"Connor?" No reply. "Connor, is that you?"

"Yeah."

Chloe heard the unmasked emotion in Connor's voice and she grew concerned. "Connor, what's wrong?"

"...I just talked to my foster sister Elizabeth. My foster parents, they're... they're dead."


	28. Nightmares

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 28

"Dead?" Chloe repeated.

"Yeah."

"Oh, my god. What happened?"

"Someone ran them over while they were out jogging this morning. Elizabeth said it was a drunk driver."

"I'm so sorry, Connor." Chloe glanced over at Jack, who was watching her, a concerned look on his face.

"I don't know what to do, mom."

"Are you at home?"

"Yeah."

"You stay there. I'll be right over." Chloe hung up, setting the phone down beside her.

"What was that about?" Jack asked.

"That was Connor. His foster parents were killed this morning."

"Oh, my god. How?"

"He said a drunk driver ran them over. I don't know anything else." Chloe moved towards the door. "I'm going to go see him. He shouldn't go through this alone."

"I'll go with you."

Chloe shook her head. "No. Stay here and watch the kids. This is something I have to do alone."

"All right. Go on."

"Thanks." Chloe left the house and got into the vehicle she had gotten after she had lost her ability to walk. It had been specially designed for her use. Jack had suggested she get it one day, and Chloe was grateful he had pushed her into it. Hitting the switch to turn it on, Chloe carefully backed out of the driveway and made the short drive to Connor's home. She quickly got out and wheeled herself up the ramp, unlocking the door and going in slowly. "Connor?" she called out quietly.

No reply came to her. The house appeared deserted, the usual sounds of blaring music missing. Chloe was looking around when her sharp hearing picked up a quiet sob coming from the bedroom. She made her way to the bedroom, and her heart broke by what she saw. Connor was sitting on his bed, his face buried in his hands. His usual confident demeanor was gone, replaced by overwhelming grief. Chloe moved close to him, gingerly touching him on the shoulder. "Connor?"

Connor jerked up in surprise, looking around wildly. His eyes fell on Chloe. "Mom-" was all he was able to say before he burst into tears. Chloe pulled him close and let him cry on her shoulder. _He doesn't deserve this. _An hour passed, yet neither one made a move. Chloe finally spoke. "I'm sorry, Connor. You don't deserve this."

"This isn't fair, mom."

"I know it's not fair."

Connor finally pulled away. "Why did this have to happen? Why?"

"I wish I could tell you that, son. But I know how you feel."

He glared at her. "No, you don't. You have no idea how I feel."

"Yes, I do" she said quietly. "I've been there, Connor. I know how painful it is to lose someone you care about more than anything."

"What do you know?" Connor snapped. "You have no idea what they meant to me. How could you? You abandoned me for 20 years. So don't you dare tell me you know how I feel."

Chloe was stung by his harsh words. "Is that really how you feel?"

"Yes...no...I don't know."

Chloe took her hand off his arm. "Connor, listen. I know you're hurting right now. You just lost two people you love, the ones who took care of you when I couldn't. And I know nothing I can say will make you feel better. Just don't shut us out. Talk to me."

Connor merely looked at her. "I'm sorry, mom, but I need to be alone right now." He stood up. "I'm leaving tomorrow for Georgia. I'll call you when I'm on the ground."

Chloe nodded. "All right." She turned around and headed for the door. She stopped as she was about to leave. "I'm really sorry, Connor. For everything." Connor didn't respond, and Chloe turned back around and left, fighting back the emotion that threatened to overwhelm her.

2424242424

"There you are."

Chloe turned around to see Jack standing behind her. "Hi, Jack."

"Couldn't sleep?"

"No."

"Me neither." Jack walked up to his wife, wrapping his arms around her. "What are you doing out here?"

"Nothing, really. I just couldn't sleep."

Jack gave her one of his knowing looks, and Chloe scowled. "Okay, I was stargazing."

"What?" he said incredulously.

"Looking up at the stars. Something I used to do with Jason and Tyler when we were growing up. We'd look at the stars and try to find all the different constellations. It was our little escape from our parents when they were fighting." She sighed. "It's a full moon tonight. I used to look forward to those."

Jack frowned. "Why?"

Chloe shook her head. "No reason."

"What is it, Chloe?"

"...When I was in that prison in Utah, the cell they had me in was almost totally closed off- except for one window that lead outside. At night time, when they left me alone to suffer, I'd sometimes drag myself up to it and look outside. At first, my intention was trying to escape. I spent my time trying to figure out how. But after a while, escape was no longer an option. I was too weak. So those few times I was able to see out, I would look at the stars, and think of all the nights Jason, Tyler, and I would spend stargazing. It was one of the few things that kept me sane during that time."

"What does the full moon have to do with it?"

Chloe looked up. "It was the one day every month or so that they would leave me alone, except for my daily ration of gruel. I never figured out why, but I never cared either."

Jack nodded. _Time to change the subject. _"Thinking about Connor?"

"Yeah. I just feel terrible for him, Jack. No one should have to go through that, least of all him. He was so devastated. And there's nothing I can do to take that pain away. I keep thinking that maybe things would have been better for Connor if I hadn't have given him up."

"Chloe, you did the best you could."

"Did I?" she shot back. "I could have chosen to keep Connor, to raise him myself. But I was afraid, Jack. Afraid I wouldn't be a good mother to him, that I couldn't give him what he needed. I was barely able to get through that time on my own. But that still doesn't change the fact that I gave him up, that I did abandon him."

Jack kneeled down next to her. "Chloe, listen. We all have regrets in our lives. Things we wish we could change. But we can't. The only thing we can do is try and move on. Just give him time."

"I know" she replied. "It's just... he still hasn't gotten over the fact that I gave him up. Despite everything that's happened since I found him, he hasn't forgotten that. Not that I expected him to just forget it, but he resents me for it." Chloe sniffed, rubbing her eyes. "I don't want to lose my son again, Jack."

"You're not going to lose him, Chloe. He wouldn't have helped get you out of San Francisco if he didn't care about you."

"You think so?"

"Of course."

Chloe was still unconvinced, however. "I don't know, Jack." She stopped as she heard a noise behind her. David was standing outside. "David, what are you doing up? You should be in bed, sweetheart."

"I had a bad dream, mom. I can't sleep. Can I sit with you?"

"No, honey. You should really be in bed."

"But I can't sleep" he whined. "The monsters will get me."

_Monsters? _Jack stepped in. "Tell you what. You go to bed, and I'll sit with you."

"But-"

"No buts, young man. Besides, I'll make sure those monsters won't get you."

"Really?"

"Really. Now go on inside. I'll be up in a minute."

"All right. Thanks, dad." David walked back inside and Chloe turned on Jack. "What?"

"That's the 6th night in a row, Jack."

"I know."

"A child that young shouldn't be having nightmares like that."

"I know" he said quietly. "Maybe you're right, Chloe."

"About what?"

"About having him checked out now. I don't want my son being miserable."

She nodded. "All right. We'll look into it tomorrow, then."

"Good." He stretched. "I'm going to go see David, get him to go back to sleep."

"Okay. I'm going to stay out here for a while."

Jack kissed her on the cheek, then went inside. Chloe looked back up at the sky, her thoughts a blur. _Are we ever really going to be happy? It seems like no sooner do we fix one problem, when another one pops up. It never ends. Why can't we just have peace in our lives, if only for a while? After all we've done, is that too much to ask?_

2424242424

"Here's one." Chloe pointed to the monitor of her laptop. Jack was looking over her shoulder, reading along. "It says she's good with children, and one of the best in her field."

"She looks acceptable. Are you going to check her out?"

Chloe turned and scowled at him. "Of course I am, Jack. You think I'm going to trust my child with someone I haven't checked out?"

Jack put his hands up. "All right, okay."

"Thanks. If she checks out okay, we'll take David to see her." Her phone rang. "Hello?"

"Mom?"

"Hi, Connor. What's going on? Are you still in Georgia?"

"Yeah. The funeral was yesterday. I just have a few more things to take care of here."

"Okay." She paused. "How are you doing?"

"Okay, I guess... Listen, mom. The reason why I called you is, I need you to do me a favor."

"Sure. Anything for you. What is it?"

"I need you to sell my house."

"What?" she choked out.

"I'm not coming back yet. I'm going away for a while, and I'll need money for that. Don't worry about my stuff. I got a friend that owns a storage place. He's going to store it for me for free until I come back."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know yet. I need time, mom, to deal with this."

_He's serious. _"I'll take care of it for you."

"Thank you." He sighed. "About what I said before, about you abandoning me, and all that. I didn't mean it, mom. I'm sorry."

"Connor, you have nothing to be sorry for. It's the truth."

"No, it's not" he said forcefully. "You did the best you could. And... I love you, mom."

"I love you too, son. Please take care of yourself."

"I will. Goodbye." Connor hung up and Chloe buried her face in her hands, fighting back tears. Jack pulled her close to him, rubbing her back softly.


	29. We need to talk

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 29

"Aunt Chloe!"

Chloe barely had time to react as she opened the door, only to be greeted by an enthusiastic hug from her nephew.

"It's good to see you too, Tommy" Chloe said, looking past him at his mother. Tyler was shaking her head. "All right, Tom. You can let go of your Aunt Chloe now."

"Awww. All right" he grumbled, reluctantly letting go of Chloe.

"How's my favorite nephew doing?"

"I'm your only nephew" the boy pointed out.

"So far" she replied, giving Tyler a devilish look. Tyler merely gazed back at her impassively. "Tom, why don't you go find your cousins and play? Your Aunt Chloe and I need to talk."

"But Mom-"

"It's all right, Tommy. Go on. They're out in the backyard."

He scampered off and Tyler sat down. "Sorry about that, Chlo."

"It's okay, Ty. He's just a kid."

"And he should be careful."

"Tommy's not going to get hurt."

"Tom's not the one I was worried about."

Chloe scoffed. "After all I've been through, you think a child is going to hurt me?"

Tyler glared. "Fine. I won't say another word." She softened a bit. "How are you doing?"

Chloe shrugged. "Okay, I guess." She sighed. "It's just been hard, Tyler, with everything that been going on. We're taking David to yet another specialist tomorrow."

"Again? How many does this make?"

"Ten. The rest of them were no help. Nine different specialists, nine different theories."

Tyler frowned. "You took him to nine different specialists, and still don't have the answer?"

"I know, it makes no sense."

"You think maybe there really is nothing wrong with him?"

Chloe glared. "No, I know there's something wrong. I'm just afraid of what it might be."

"What do you mean?"

"I think David might be like... me."

"You mean he might have what you have?"

"Yeah." Chloe rubbed her forehead.

"Have you told Jack?"

"I brought it up, and he's not so sure. He thinks I'm jumping to conclusions."

Tyler sat back. "You'll figure it out, Chloe." She put her hand on her sister's arm. "Have you heard from Connor lately?"

Chloe shook her head. "Not since the day I wired him the money from his house selling. He wouldn't tell me anything, except that he was safe. That was 4 months ago. Haven't heard a word since. I worry about him, but I know I have to give him his space, let him find what he's looking for."

"Look, Chloe, Connor can take care of himself. And he'll be back."

"What if he doesn't come back? I had to give him up once before, Tyler. I don't want to lose him again."

"You won't" Tyler replied forcefully.

"I hope you're right." Chloe smiled. "Where's Claudia? I wanted to see her."

"Chase took her to the zoo. Their first father-daughter trip." She smiled back. "He's crazy about those kids. I don't think he could love them any more than if they weren't adopted."

"Do they know?"

"No. And I'm not going to tell them until they're older." Tyler turned away from Chloe, staring at the wall. "The moment I saw those kids, I fell in love with them. I can't really explain it, but I knew at that moment I was going to adopt them. Chase felt the same way. And I owe Stuart so much for helping us cut through the red tape so we could adopt them without too much trouble." Tyler instantly shut up. _Oh, dammit. No one was supposed to know._

"Stuart? Tyler, you never told me he helped you out with this."

"He didn't want anyone to find out."

"Why not?"

"Chloe, I have no idea." She looked down. "I still don't know what to make of Stuart, to be honest with you. I mean, he seems like a good man. And he did help with the adoption. But... the way he talks about our father, like he was this great guy... I just don't know. It goes against everything we remember about him."

"I know. But Stuart has helped me out in the past, for no other reason than helping me. He never once demanded payment, or anything like that. And he knew things about us that aren't in any personnel files. Things that only someone who knew us personally could know." Chloe sighed. "I trust him. He hasn't given me a reason not to."

"If you say so." Tyler stood up. "Can you do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Watch Tom for a few hours. I promised Angela we'd spend some time together, just the two of us."

"Sure" Chloe replied. "Go on."

2424242424

"Chloe, relax. Everything's going to be fine." Jack grabbed his wife's hand, rubbing it reassuringly.

"How can you be so calm?" she asked.

"How can I not be? Getting worked up over this is not going to help."

"We're talking about our son, Jack. What if I'm wrong? What if there's something seriously wrong with him? Something that could make his life hell?"

"Whatever it is, we'll deal with it. Trust me."

"I hate it when you say that" she grumbled. "Something bad always happens when you do."

"Not this time." Feeling the tension in Chloe's hands, Jack pulled her close to him. "Chloe, it's going to be all right."

"I really hope you're right."

"Excuse me." Chloe jumped at the voice behind her. "Dr. Chapman's ready for you now."

"Thanks. Come on, Jack. Let's get this over with." Chloe followed Jack down the hall and into the doctor's office, parking her chair in front of her desk. Jack sat down next to her.

"Mr. Bauer. Ms. O'Brian." Dr. Chapman greeted them cordially. "I apologize for the short notice, but this is the only time I could see you in person."

"It's no problem" Jack replied. "You said you had David's test results back?"

"Well, they're not really test results, Mr. Bauer, but... based on the observations of my colleagues, as well as my own personal observations of David- his lack of eye contact, acute sensitivity to stimuli, limited motor skills, fixation on one subject, among many other symptoms- we've come to the conclusion that David has a form of autism known as Asperger Syndrome."

Chloe looked down at her feet, Dr. Chapman's words playing in her mind. _I was right. He's just like me. Why couldn't I be wrong for once?_

"So... what does this mean?" Jack asked quietly.

"I can't really say for sure, Mr. Bauer. It's too soon to definitively say this is in fact what David has, but all signs point to it."

"What do we do about it? Is he going to be able to have a normal life?"

"It's not that simple" she replied, laying some information in front of Jack. "People who possess Asperger Syndrome often times have difficulties with social interaction. They lack the ability to read body language. Combine that with a tendency to fixate on one subject... But these skills can be taught. That information I gave you should be helpful. Besides, don't look on what David has as a disability, something that has to be fixed. Give him your support, and he'll be fine. I want to see him once a month for a while, just to make sure of this."

"Of course." Jack stood up, glancing at Chloe. She continued to stare at the floor. "Chloe, what's wrong?"

Chloe shook her head. "Nothing. Thank you, Dr. Chapman."

"You're welcome. If either of you have any questions, don't hesitate to call."

"Just one thing" Jack said. "What do we tell David?"

"I wouldn't tell him anything, until he's old enough to deal with it. But that's entirely up to you. Do you have any more questions?"

_Yeah, I have a few. _"No."

"All right, then. We're done for today."

Jack shook her hand, then led Chloe out of the building and into the car. The drive back to Visalia was a long one, but Chloe never looked up the entire time. Jack stopped the car an hour later outside the house, letting Chloe go inside alone. _Chloe was right. She knew all along, and I didn't listen. But how did she know? Well, I'm going to find out. _He got out of the car, passing Tyler on the way in. "Thanks for watching the kids, Tyler."

"No problem. What did the doctor say? Chloe wouldn't tell me."

"She said that... that David is autistic. A- a form of it called Asperger Syndrome."

"You think that's a bad thing?"

"I don't know. To tell you the truth, I know almost nothing about this. But Chloe knew. Somehow she knew." Jack stared at his sister-in-law seriously. "How did she know?"

Tyler scratched her chin. "Not my place to say, Jack. You need to talk to Chloe. I'm going to go home. Claudia and Tom have probably got Chase tied up somewhere."

"All right. I'll see you later." Jack walked past her into the house.

"Dad! You're home!" Jack was attacked by an excited Edgar.

"Hey, little man. Were you well behaved for your Aunt Tyler?"

"Yeah. She made us clean up our rooms, though."

"Good. Listen, why don't you go outside for a few minutes? I'll be out soon."

"Okay." Edgar scampered off and Jack glanced over at Chloe. "Chloe, we need to talk."

"About what?"

"You know about what. You knew. How?"

"What?" Chloe looked confused.

"How did you know David had Asperger Syndrome?"

_Oh, dammit. _"I need to show you something, Jack. Come on." Chloe led him into her study, opening up her safe and pulling out a large file. She set it on her desk, turning through it quickly, until she was 1/3 of the way through. Chloe pulled out some papers. "This is my medical file. The complete version, not the truncated one I had in my CTU files. Look on the 3rd page."

Jack scanned through the documents, until he read what Chloe had pointed out to him. "You?"

"Yeah. I was diagnosed when I was 17. It's why I'm so good at my job. When David began showing some of the same symptoms I did, I had reason to believe he had it as well, but I couldn't really be sure. I'm a programmer, Jack, not a doctor. That's why I was so adamant about having him checked out. I didn't want him to be miserable like I was, knowing he was different, but not knowing how or why."

"Why didn't you ever tell me? Why would you leave this out of your files?"

"Would you have trusted me if you knew? I didn't want anyone to know. The only one at CTU who ever found out was Bill, and I made him swear to keep it a secret. I didn't want you to think I was some kind of freak."

Jack saw that Chloe was starting to get upset, and he hugged her. "Yes, I still would have trusted you. I love you, no matter what. And I wouldn't change a thing about you or your personality. It's part of what makes you so special."

"Really?"

"Really. Now come on. The kids are waiting."


	30. Limits

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 30

"Get up, slag!" Chloe heard moments before she was splashed in the face with freezing water. No sooner had she opened her eyes, when she found herself being dragged roughly to her feet.

"Stand her up against the wall" the voice of her captor rang out, and Chloe was thrown against the wall and locked in place. She hissed in pain as her back hit the hot wall. _Now what?_

"Good morning, Chloe. Sleep well?"

Chloe recognized the voice of Burke and she glared, the intensity of her glare causing him to step back slightly, but he quickly recovered and delivered a vicious strike to her face. "Answer me, Chloe!"

"No" she spat out. "I won't."

"How dare you defy me!" Burke reached out and pulled her hair down, lifting her head up. "You pathetic little slag! Do you want to die here?"

"You won't kill me" she replied. "Not if you want that information."

"Don't be so sure of that, Chloe. My technicians are working night and day to retrieve those files. We will get into them, and once we do, you are dead. Why not spare yourself this pain, and give me what I want? You can walk right out of here."

"If your technicians can get what you need, then why do you need me? I won't do it."

"It's called a contingency plan, you worthless slag!" he roared, causing Chloe to flinch. Letting go of her, Burke cracked his knuckles and stepped aside, motioning to his subordinates. The goons grabbed Chloe and unlocked her, turning her to face the wall before locking her back in place.

"I want those files, Chloe. Give them up."

"Forget it, you slime." She cried out as a blade was lightly stuck in her back, tearing open old scars. "Stop this" she gasped. "Let me go. You're just wasting your time. My friends will find me, and you'll die."

"Your friends?" Burke spat out in amusement. "Chloe, do you honestly think your friends are ever going to find you? Do you know how long it's been? Hmmm? Eight months. You've been here for eight months. Where are these friends of yours? Not here. Stop living in a fantasy, Chloe. You are never getting out of here, until you give me those files."

"That's not going to happen" Chloe said.

"Oh, yes it will. Like I told you, the things I put you through before were child's play. Now the real fun begins. Your will is very strong. But let's see how strong it stays when you deal with this." Chloe heard the roar of water before a blinding pain shot through her body as she was doused with salt water. Her screams echoed loudly throughout the cell. The pain was over whelming and Chloe found herself slipping into unconsciousness, only to be snapped back to reality.

"Ah-ah-ah. You are not getting out of this so easily, Chloe" Burke told her.

"Go to hell, you scumbag." She yelled as she felt the knife in her back again.

"Where did you learn your manners? In a barn?"

"Bastards like you don't deserve any respect."

"Again." Chloe screamed loudly as she was doused again, the pain intensifying to almost unbearable levels._ Jack, where are you? I need you._

"Are you ready to help me? Or do we need to keep going?"

"I won't help you." Her voice was weak, her battle to stay conscious a losing one.

"Hit her again."

"Sir."

"What do you want?" Burke snapped.

"If you keep this up, you'll kill her. Take a break."

"No. She's tough. It'll take more to kill this one."

"Sir, her vitals are close to redlining. You can't kill her until you get the information."

"...Fine. Take her down." He turned and stormed out of the cell.

Chloe was unlocked and dropped unceremoniously on the floor. "Consider yourself lucky, O'Brian. Now eat up." Two bowls were set down next to her. She grabbed the bowl of food, eyes widening as she saw maggots crawling in the gruel.

"Eat up, slag. It's all you're going to get."

Shuddering, Chloe took a deep breath, then gulped down the meager contents of the bowl, quickly washing it down with water. She grimaced at the horrible taste and set the empty bowls down next to her. The head guard scooped them up, delivering a backhand to the weakened captive. "See you soon" he said, smirking at her before walking out, slamming the door behind him. Mustering what remained of her strength, Chloe slowly crawled up to the wooden plank suspended above the floor, laying down on it wearily. The afternoon sun was shining directly through the solitary window in the cell, and Chloe turned her body into the sun's rays to get some semblance of warmth._ If there's one thing to be grateful for, it's almost summertime._

She glanced towards the cell door, thinking back on what had just happened._ Eight months. I've been here for eight months. I always wondered what would happen if I were ever in this position. "Everyone has a limit to how much pain they can take." That's what they used to tell us back at CTU. Keep pressing hard enough, and everyone breaks. How long can I keep this up? What's my limit? I've been beaten, whipped, shocked, assaulted, nearly starved to death... what else can they do to me? Is this what happened to you in China, Jack? How did you survive for 20 months? I've only been through eight months, and all I want is this pain to stop. I want to go home._

_Where are you? Did you abandon me? Did you think I abandoned you in China? I didn't. I did everything I could to find you, to get you home. If anyone's listening up there, you know I haven't had much use for... whatever you are, but please. Let him find me. I don't want to die here, not for nothing._

2424242424

"Chloe, you all right?"

Chloe snapped back to reality, realizing she had gone quiet. "I'm fine, Chase. It's just been a hard couple of days, that's all."

Chase simply stared at her and Chloe scowled. "Okay, I was just thinking about Utah, that's all. It's been six years since you guys got me out of there, and I still have nightmares about that place. Is that normal?"

Chase nodded. "Yes, it is. Chloe, you went through hell. I'd be more concerned if you weren't having nightmares about that. Believe me, I still have bad ones about what happened in Mexico, and that was over 10 years ago. And that wasn't nearly as bad as what you went through."

"How do you deal with them?"

"I have help- the people around me."

Chloe looked unconvinced. "Look, I know you guys said to tell you if anything's bothering me, but... some of that stuff was hard enough going through once. I don't know if I could even think about it again. The things I did just to survive..."

"I understand" Chase replied softly. "We're just worried about you, that's all."

"I know. And I appreciate it, Chase. I really do. It's just... sometimes I think I'm never going to be at peace. Every time I get there, something happens, something that upsets everything. It's just been one bad turn after another." She looked down. "Sometimes I wish I could turn back the clock, go back to every bad thing that's happened to me and change things."

Chase regarded her seriously. "Like what?"

She raised her head to look at him. "Jason dying, for one. He was my world. The one person who accepted me for who I was back then, not what I could give him. He was such a good person. And then he died. What good came from that? He kept our family together. Once he died, that was it. We all split apart. Tyler and I didn't talk for almost 20 years. I never saw my parents again after that. And Connor..." Chloe fought back the feeling of pain at the mention of her son's name. "Jason was going to adopt him, give him the home I couldn't. I wouldn't have lost Connor for 20 years if Jason were still alive. He meant everything to me, Chase. Everything."

"What happened after his death? You finished college, then Chappelle recruited you to work for CTU. You told me you agreed to join CTU because of Jason's death. Would you still have agreed to work for CTU if Jason were still alive?"

Chloe shook her head. "No, I wouldn't have. I probably would have freelanced, or something like that."

"Okay. So... let's say you never went to CTU. We would never have met. You would never have met Jack, either. Think about it, Chloe. When Jack came back to CTU after he was fired, you were the only person he trusted there. You helped him save his boss, as well as his girlfriend, from being executed. When Jack had to fake his death, you helped keep him alive for 18 months. When Jack went up against the president, you helped him bring Logan to justice. Would Jack have been able to do those things without you helping him?"

Chloe didn't reply right away, Chase's words slowly sinking in. "He could have found someone else to help him."

"Maybe. But no one as good as you are." Chase grabbed her hand. "If you had never worked for CTU, and you and Jack had never met, you wouldn't have your children. Teri, Edgar, David, they would never have been born." Chloe looked down. "You've been through a lot of pain, Chloe, more pain than any one person should have to go through. But because of what's happened to you, you have friends who care about you, a husband that loves you more than anything, and a family. Would you give up everything you have now, just to get your brother back?"

_Would I? Could I seriously lose my children, lose my friends... give up Jack, if I could have Jason back? A few years ago, I would have jumped at the chance to see my brother again. Now... despite everything that's happened, I've gained more than I ever thought I could... all because I made the choice to work for CTU, a choice I would never have made were he still here. Losing Jason was horrible. But... if I lost Jack, and my children, and my friends... that would hurt worse. Forgive me, Jason._ "No, Chase. I wouldn't. I love my brother, but I can't give up what I have now." Chloe stopped talking as she started coughing violently.

"Chloe, are you sure you're all right?"

Chloe took a deep breath. "I'm fine" she gasped out. She couldn't say another word as another coughing spell hit her.

Chase stood up and grabbed her chair. "Come on, let's go inside."

"I'm... fine." Chloe was doubled over, frantically trying to breathe.

Chase led her inside the house, taking her into her room quickly. He gasped as he felt her forehead. "Chloe, you're burning up. We have to get you to a hospital."

"I said I'm fine, Chase. I can't go anywhere. Jack's not home. I have to stay here and watch the kids until he gets back."

"I'll call Tyler, have her watch the kids for a while. Just hang on." Chase pulled out his cell phone, his eyes widening as Chloe starting coughing up blood. "Come on, Tyler, pick up."

"Tyler, it's me."

"Yeah, I'm still at Chloe and Jack's. I need you here now. Chloe just started coughing up blood, and she's burning up. She needs to get to the hospital now, and Jack's not here to watch their kids."

"Thanks. I'll see you in a couple." He hung up quickly. "Tyler's on her way."

Chloe was unable to answer, and Chase started rubbing her back, trying to calm her down. "That's it. Take slow breaths. Just breathe."

Chloe shot him a lethal glare, then started coughing again. "Help me... Chase."

"I'm going to help you. Just hang in there." _Come on, Tyler. Hurry._

2424242424

Jack dashed through the front doors of County General, making a beeline for the front desk. The nurse behind the desk was on the phone, his expression growing darker. He held up a hand as Jack approached. "No, I told you not to send it there."

"Just take care of it." He hung up. "Can I help you, sir?"

"I'm looking for Chloe O'Brian. She was brought in here an hour ago."

"Hold on." He started typing. "... She's in Room 337." He pointed down the hall.

"Thanks." Jack sprinted through the corridors, anxious to get to Chloe as quickly as he could. _Chloe, hold on. I'm almost there._ He stopped near the room in question. Chase was standing outside, his gaze fixed on the window outside Chloe's room. "Chase."

Chase turned to Jack. "Jack."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. We were sitting outside talking, when she started coughing. I got her inside as quickly as I could, but she started coughing up blood. She was burning up, Jack. The medics are stabilizing her now." Jack made a move to go in, but Chase stopped him. "Let them do their job."

"Dammit, Chase, that's my wife in there. I should be with her."

"Doing what?" Chase replied. "Come on, Jack. Let them work."

Jack merely turned his attention to the window, looking inside. Chloe was surrounded by medical personnel, all of them working to stabilize her. Her expression betrayed the pain she felt, and Jack felt his heart break. _Don't you dare give up, Chloe. Not now._

The door opened almost an hour later and the physician on duty walked out. Jack stopped him. "How is she?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm Jack Bauer- her husband. How is she?"

The doctor led Jack into Chloe's room, motioning for Chase to stay put. "She's got a very high fever, Mr. Bauer. We had to sedate her to keep her temperature down."

"Do you have any idea what's wrong with her?"

He shook his head. "Not yet, but we're going to run some tests." He glanced back at Chloe. "She's a fighter, that's for sure." Seeing the worried look on Jack's face, he patted Jack on the shoulder. "We're going to take good care of her."

"Thanks." Jack watched him leave, then sat down next to Chloe, brushing her hair out of her face. "Come on, Chloe. You can beat this. You've survived worse than this." He wasn't expecting a response, but he caught a faint whisper. He bent close to her, and heard it again. "...Jason..."


	31. Reunited

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 31

Chloe slowly opened her eyes, groaning as she tried to sit up. "Ow." She took a look around, realizing quickly that she had no idea where she was. _Where am I? The last thing I remember is the hospital... oh, no. No, this can't be No._

Chloe felt tears coming to her eyes, but she made no effort to stop them as she began to sob loudly. _No. I'm not ready._

"Chloe."

Chloe's head jerked up at the voice addressing her._ No way. _She slowly turned to see a younger man standing next to her, smiling slightly. _It can't be. _"...Jason?"

He nodded, and Chloe stared at him in disbelief. "You're... you're dead."

"Am I?"

She looked away. "Yes. Years ago. A drunk driver ran you over." She shook her head. "This isn't real. It can't be. My brother is dead."

"But I'm not dead, Chloe. Not really. Not as long as the people who cared about me still do."

Despite her grief, Chloe gave off a short laugh. "That's exactly what Jason would say." She regarded the man in front of her. "If you're really my brother, then I... I am dead."

He put his hand up to stop her. "Not exactly. It's... complicated."

She looked around. "Where are we?"

"I can't tell you that. There's a lot I can't tell you, Chloe, and I don't have a lot of time." He forced her to look at him. "You still don't believe me, do you?"

Chloe stared at him. "Jason was killed over 20 years ago." A thought came to her. "How did I get here?"

"You were very sick, Chloe. Sicker than the time when you were 12 and almost died from bronchitis. I remember Dad wouldn't even come see you. Mom was furious with him."

"...You really are Jason."

"Yeah."

Chloe dropped the last bit of resistance and embraced him, crying. "I miss you."

"I know. The dead can hear the thoughts of the living, and I've heard yours every day. I've been watching you whenever I can."

"...What am I doing here?"

Jason shifted. "I've been sent to you, Chloe."

"Why?"

"You have questions that need to be answered, and we don't have much time before you go back."

Chloe looked at him. "Go back?"

"This isn't your time, Chloe. Not yet." Jason turned to leave. "Come with me."

Chloe hesitantly took a step, surprised that she could walk. "I can walk."

"Yes, but don't get too used to it" he warned. "The physical limitations of life have no place here, but once you go back, you'll be unable to walk again." Jason led her across the almost barren landscape, stopping in front of a door some time later. Opening the door, he held it open for Chloe. "Go on."

Chloe looked at him, then stepped through. The room inside was empty, save for a mirror. "Jason, what's going on?"

He didn't respond, walking over to the mirror and touching it. "Like I said, you have questions. I'm here to give you some answers." The mirror's surface faded, and Chloe was looking at a younger version of herself, arguing with her father.

2424242424

"What do you care what I do with my life, Dad?!" Chloe hollered.

"What goes on in this house is my concern, Chloe" Julius Anderson yelled back, his face growing purple. "And if you think I'm going to let you screw your brother's life up just because you wanted to sleep around like a common whore, you are sadly mistaken."

Chloe reached up and delivered a vicious slap that sent the big man reeling. "Don't you dare speak to me like that!" She was rewarded with an even harder slap from her father.

"You ungrateful brat!"

"Ungrateful?!" Chloe spat out, rubbing her cheek. "What on earth should I be grateful for, Dad? All you have ever done is put me down, and tell me how worthless I am."

Julius stared straight into her eyes, causing Chloe to look away. "You are such a disappointment. You've brought shame on the family time and time again, Chloe. Now you show up here after being gone for god knows how long, telling me you're pregnant, and you expect me to accept that?"

"I expected you to act like a father, and help me." She glared. "But you're right. Why on earth should I have expected the person who has done nothing but hurt me my entire life to suddenly support me?"

"Don't smartmouth me, you slut." Julius grabbed her arm, dragging her down the hallway and into his study, locking the door behind him. "It's time to teach you some respect, Chloe." Before Chloe could react, he pulled off his belt and struck her with it. She fell to the ground, curling up into a ball as Julius struck her mercilessly. "You worthless, ungrateful, pathetic little girl!"

"I'm... not worthless" she gasped out, crying.

"Quit your whining, Chloe. You deserve this."

Chloe didn't respond, but merely lay on the floor absorbing the blows Julius dealt out, her arms covering her stomach to protect her unborn child. She soon lost all track of time, until he hauled her up, dragging her back through the house and out the front door. "You got 15 minutes to get your ass out of here. If you're not gone by then, I'm calling the cops. Don't you ever come back here." He slammed the door in her face, leaving a bruised and beaten Chloe standing there. She took a few breaths, then staggered off the property, passing through the gate a few minutes later.

Once the house was out of sight, Chloe sank down onto the sidewalk and burst into tears. For once, she didn't care who could see her. All she knew was her life had just gotten even more complicated.

Chloe was surprised to hear her cell phone buzz a short time later, and she answered it quickly. "Hello?"

"Chloe, it's Jason. I heard about what Dad did. I'm sorry, Chloe. You didn't deserve to have that happen."

"...Thanks."

"Where are you right now?"

She looked up. "I'm on the corner of Steel and Rose."

"Okay. You stay there. I'm coming to pick you up."

"No, Jason. I'll be fine. Don't get involved."

"Don't argue with me, Chloe. I'll be there in a few minutes. Don't go anywhere."

Jason's tone told her not to argue the point, and Chloe agreed before hanging up. Having nothing better to do, she sat down to wait for him, her mind a million miles away.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

Chloe was snapped out of her thoughts, looking up to see 3 unpleasant-looking men standing around her. The first one smirked at his friends. "Fresh meat, guys."

Chloe shuddered, and tried to stand up to run, but the beating she had taken made her unable to get far before she was taken down. "Get off me!"

"Oooh, she's feisty" the second one remarked. "This is gonna be fun." It was the last thing he was able to say before a figure lifted him off Chloe and threw him to the side. Chloe gasped as she saw Jason grappling with her attackers.

"Don't you ever touch my sister again!" he yelled. The thugs soon realized they were beaten and took off, Jason hot on their heels. He chased them a couple blocks before they were able to get away. Cursing under his breath, Jason returned to his sister's side. Chloe had not moved the entire time. "Oh my god" he whispered, shocked at how seriously injured she was. "Did they do this to you?"

"No. They're not the ones who hurt me."

Jason took a look around, then slowly helped Chloe to her feet. "Come on. Let's go. Lean on me." He walked her to his waiting car, helping her in gently. Once she was buckled in, he climbed in after her and fired up the engine, taking her back to his apartment. Stopping the car outside, he turned back towards Chloe, only to realize she had fallen asleep. "Poor thing. She must be exhausted. Of course, who could blame her?"

Jason unbuckled her belt and gently pulled her out of the car, carrying her up the 2 flights of stairs to his apartment. He quietly opened the door and carried her in, setting her down on his bed and tucking her in. Chloe had not woken up the entire time, and Jason did not have the heart to wake her up. "You just get some sleep, Chloe. We'll talk in the morning."

Chloe stirred, but did not wake up. Finding sleep to be the last thing on his mind, Jason pulled a chair up next to her and sat down, keeping one eye on the door, and the other on his sister. "Yeah, we definitely need to talk."

2424242424

The sun was high in the sky by the time Chloe finally woke up. She winced as she raised her hand to her throbbing head. "Oh, my head."

"You're awake." Chloe turned to see Jason standing next to the bed. "Jason?" she said quietly, her throat burning. Jason left the room, returning with a glass of water. "Drink this." Chloe grabbed the water and began to gulp it down.

"Slow down, Chloe. It's not going anywhere."

She finished it off, setting it down on the nightstand. "Thank you." She looked at him curiously. "Where are we?"

"My apartment. I brought you here after what happened."

She glanced down, the memories of the night before coming back. "I'm sorry, Jason. I didn't mean to bring you into this. I know you have your own life, and you shouldn't have to deal with my problems."

"Whoa, whoa, hold on" he interrupted, touching her on the shoulder. "Don't you dare apologize, Chloe. No matter what happens, you are my sister, and I love you. If you're in trouble, then I will do whatever I can to help you. I know you'd do the same for me." He sat down next to her. "Look, we need to talk about what happened. But not right now. You need to heal up first. I want you to have some breakfast, then I'm going to take you to the hospital and have them check you out."

"I can't go to the hospital" she replied. "I can't afford it. And I know you can't."

"Chloe, you're hurt. You need to see someone." Jason thought for a minute. "Let me see if the base doctor can come and check on you. It won't cost you a thing."

Chloe opened her mouth to argue, but Jason quickly shut her down with a look. "Fine."

"Good." He smiled slightly. "Now that that's settled, are you hungry? I'll fix us up some breakfast, then we can talk."

"...Why are you doing this for me, Jason? I screwed up, big time. I'm the one that should be fixing my mistakes."

He gave her one of his 'are you serious?' looks. "Because you deserve to have someone look out for you. You didn't deserve to be thrown out over a mistake. I won't turn my back on

you like Mom and Dad did."

Chloe scoffed. "I should have known it would happen. He's done nothing but make me suffer my entire life. I was so stupid to think he would act differently this time."

"It wasn't stupid, Chloe. Fathers should look out for their children, not beat them like animals when they make mistakes." He stood up. "I'll be right back." He returned a few minutes later with some food. Chloe ate in silence, then set aside the empty plate. "Thanks, Jason. I'm so lucky to have someone that cares about me." She yawned. "Can we talk later? I'm still tired."

"Of course." She fell asleep, oblivious to the watchful eyes of her brother. "No, Chloe. I'm the lucky one."

2424242424

Chloe stepped back from the now-blank mirror. "I'm confused" she said to Jason. "You didn't show me anything I didn't already know."

"I know" he replied patiently. "Chloe, do you trust me?"

_He sounds just like Jack. _"Of course I do, Jason."

"Then please keep watching. By the time we're done, I can guarantee you won't be so confused."

2424242424

Jack was sitting by the unmoving Chloe, keeping a vigil over her. He kept watching, waiting for any sign of movement, but none was coming. Only the steady beeping of the monitor told him she was still alive. _Why won't you wake up? Please, Chloe, come back to me._

"Mr. Bauer?" Jack looked up to see Dr. Ericsson standing by.

"Dr. Ericsson. Do you have her test results back?"

"Yes, but we haven't been able to figure out what's wrong with her. And we don't have the resources to figure it out."

"...So what do we do?"

"I'm going to recommend her to a colleague of mine. He's a world-class diagnostician. If anyone can figure it out, it's him."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I'm sure, Mr. Bauer. If we could treat her here, we would, but we can't."

"All right." Dr. Ericsson left and jack turned back to Chloe. "Did you hear that, Chloe? We're going to figure this out. Just hang in there."


	32. This isn't over

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 32

"How are you feeling, Chloe?" Jason asked as he walked into her room, carrying lunch for the both of them.

Chloe shrugged. "Okay, I guess. It doesn't hurt as much today."

"Well, that's good." Jason set her lunch down in front of her, and sat down next to her to eat. He was halfway through when Chloe finished, pushing her tray away quietly. "Thanks, Jason."

Jason swallowed. "Hey, it was just lunch."

"Not just for that. I mean, for everything. For being my brother, taking care of me, protecting me from Dad all these years, all of it."

"...What kind of brother would I be if I let my sister deal with this on her own? You and I are in this together, Chloe."

"What about Dad?"

"What about him?" Jason asked, finishing off his lunch.

"You know he's going to come after you. I don't want him to hurt you because of me. Not again."

"Dad can't touch me. And he certainly can't touch you."

"Yes, he can" she replied.

"No, he can't. He gave up any right to call himself a father after what he did to you. Don't worry, I'll take care of Dad. You just focus on getting well, Chloe. You're going to be a mother. Just think about that."

"I have. I want to do right by this child, Jason. I don't know how, but I'll figure something out."

"I know you will." Jason's cell buzzed, and he scowled slightly as he saw who was calling. Picking up the dirty plates, he walked out of the room before answering. "Dad."

"Jason. Are you alone?"

"Yes, I am. Now what do you want?"

"Is that harlot sister of yours there?"

"Don't call Chloe that" Jason snapped angrily.

"Why not? That's what she is- a good for nothing slut."

"I'm warning you, Dad-"

"You're warning me? Don't you threaten me, Jason" Julius barked.

"Don't insult my sister" Jason replied. "Look, let's not do this, all right? You called for a reason. What do you want?"

"Get rid of her. Throw her out."

"And why the hell should I? After what you did?"

"That girl doesn't deserve anything. She threw her future away, Jason. And for what? A one-night stand? She deserved what she got."

Jason was growing madder. "You beat her like an animal, Dad. Look, Chloe knows she made a mistake, and she's living with that mistake. The least you could do as her father is give her even a shred of support."

"If Chloe had just done what I told her to, then maybe I would support her. But no, she insisted on keeping that little bastard."

"What did you tell Chloe to do?" Julius didn't answer. "What did you tell Chloe to do?!" Jason repeated.

"Ask your sister."

"No, Dad. Tell me."

"No." Julius sighed. "Why are you doing this, Jason? You still have a bright future ahead of you. You could be so successful. Don't let your sister ruin your life."

"She's not ruining my life, Dad." Jason sniffed. "You know what? This is a waste of time. It's obvious that you want nothing to do with Chloe, or her child. Fine. If you won't be there for her, I will. But stay away from Chloe, or you'll regret it."

"Jason, don't do this. Don't cut your family off to protect that slut."

"...I don't ever want to see you again, Julius. Goodbye." Jason hung up and sat down, breathing heavily. "How dare he?"

"Who was on the phone, Jason?"

Jason looked up to see Chloe standing in the doorway, holding her arm. "Chloe, what are you doing up? You should be resting."

"I'm okay."

"You don't look okay. Come on, let's get you back in bed."

Chloe scowled, but allowed her brother to lead her back into bed. "Who called you?"

"It's not important."

Chloe merely looked at him. "You're a terrible liar, Jason. Who was that?" She paused. "Was it... Dad?"

"...Yeah."

"What did he want?"

"He wanted me to throw you out."

"And you're going to do it, aren't you?"

"No. Of course I'm not throwing you out. I wouldn't do that. But... there is something I need to ask you." He sat down. "Dad said that he told you to do something, and you wouldn't do it. That's why he got so mad. What did he tell you to do?"

Chloe looked away, refusing to speak as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Jason grabbed her hand. "Chloe... you know no matter what you tell me, I won't judge you. And I won't tell a soul. Tell me what he told you to do."

"... He told me to... to get an abortion."

"What?"

"He said if I didn't, he would kill my baby himself. I told him no. We started arguing, and... he beat the crap out of me, then he threw me out." She started crying. "I'm so scared, Jason. I don't think this is over. He's going to kill my child, first chance he gets."

"No, he's not" Jason replied. "I'll make sure that doesn't happen."

"How?"

Jason thought for a minute. "Tomorrow we'll go to the courthouse and have a restraining order filed against him. In the meantime, I'll have a couple of my friends come over, just in case Dad tries something stupid." He patted her on the back. "Don't worry, Chloe. Everything's going to be fine."

2424242424

"Come on, Chloe. Push!"

"I am pushing" she gritted out, screaming as she was hit with another contraction.

"Chloe, just calm down" Jason told her, rubbing her hand.

"Don't tell me to calm down, Jason!" She screamed again. "Someone help me!"

"Ms. Anderson, please calm down" the nurse on her right side said, injecting a painkiller into her IV. Chloe felt the pain lessen slightly and she relaxed, only to cry out suddenly.

"Okay, Ms. Anderson, one more push."

"I'll push you" she snapped, but pushed as hard as she could, then sank back on the bed, closing her eyes in relief.

"You can open your eyes, Chloe" Jason remarked a short time later. She opened her eyes to see the nurse holding a small bundle in her arms. "Congratulations, Ms. Anderson. It's a boy." She lay the tiny child in Chloe's arms gingerly. Chloe merely stared at the baby, her usually sharp mind overwhelmed.

"He's beautiful, Chloe" Jason said.

Chloe smiled. "Thanks."

"Have you thought of a name?"

Chloe thought for a minute. "I'll call him Connor. Connor Jason Anderson."

Jason blinked a few times, then grinned. "I'm honored. I know Grandpa would be, too." He looked up as the doors to the delivery room opened, and almost gasped as he saw the breathless figure standing in the doorway. "Tyler."

The woman in question took a few minutes to catch her breath, then slowly walked over to her sister, her expression clearly showing her disappointment. "Aw" she grumbled. "I wanted to be here for it."

"What happened to you?"

"Traffic."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Great." She smiled. "I'm glad you're here, Tyler. I was afraid you wouldn't come."

"You think I'd miss the chance to see my nephew? Not a chance, Chloe."

Connor chose that moment to start crying, and Chloe began rocking him softly. "Shhh. It's okay, Connor."

"Isn't this sweet?" a harsh voice sounded out. The three siblings turned to the doors, where Julius was lurking, his wife by his side. Chloe instinctively pulled Connor close to her, trembling at the sight of her father. Jason put his hand on her shoulder, and Tyler did the same.

"What the hell do you want, Dad?" Tyler snapped.

"You watch your mouth, young lady" Julius replied. "I'm disappointed in you, Tyler. Your brother's obviously a lost cause, but I thought you would have the sense to stay out of this. You're siding with that slut, and not your family?"

"Don't talk about Chloe like that." Tyler slowly moved towards Julius, until she was right in his face. "Let's get something straight, Dad- we are not afraid of you. You can't hurt us anymore, and you sure as hell aren't welcome here. Now do the right thing for once in your life, and get out of here."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll call the police" Jason interjected, not leaving Chloe's side. "In case you've forgotten, Julius, you aren't allowed to be within 200 yards of Chloe. I could call the cops right now and have you arrested." He gently squeezed Chloe's shoulder. "But in the interest of keeping the peace, I won't- as long as you leave right now."

Julius glared daggers at his offspring, but backed up. "You three can consider yourselves officially disowned." He pointed at Chloe menacingly. "This isn't over, Chloe." Beckoning to his wife, he turned and walked out. She shook her head, then followed him out. Once they were gone, Chloe sighed in relief.

"What a jerk" Tyler snapped. "Why'd he show up here, anyway? All he did was ruin things."

"That was the point, Tyler" Jason reminded her. "He wanted to show us he could still control us, but we didn't bite. We're the ones in control here, not him."

"That's not true" Chloe said quietly. "He said it wasn't over, and I believe him." She sighed. "I'm sorry, guys, I didn't mean for this to happen. Now he's going to hurt you, because of me."

"Don't you dare blame yourself, Chloe" Tyler said forcefully. "It's not your fault Dad's gone crazy."

"It is my fault. I'm the one that screwed up." She looked down. "Tyler, if you don't want any part of this now, I understand."

"Of course I want to be part of this. Look, I know I'll never be your favorite person, sis." She held up a hand as Chloe began to protest. "Don't deny it. You know I'm right. But that doesn't mean I won't help you out. We both will, right, Jase?"

"Right." Jason let go of Chloe and grabbed his jacket. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Tyler, could you stay here and keep an eye on things?"

"Okay, but where are you going?"

"I need to take care of some things. It'll only take a few minutes."

"Fine."

Jason nodded and walked out of the hospital. Once he had left the building, he pulled out his cell phone. "Stuart? It's Jason."

"Hello, Jason. Did Chloe have the baby yet?"

"Yeah. It's a boy."

"Good." Reilly paused. "How's she doing?"

"Not too well."

"What's wrong? Did something happen to her? Did she get hurt?"

"No, she didn't get hurt, at least not physically. Dad showed up."

"What? Why?" Reilly pressed.

"To try and scare us. And we're officially disowned for siding with Chloe."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not. All he's done is make our lives miserable."

"... I understand. Look, if Julius tries anything else, just let me know."

"I will. Stuart, I gotta go."

"Take care of yourself, Jason"

2424242424

"Ugh. What a jerk" Chloe remarked, looking at her brother in disgust.

"I know Dad was a jerk back then. But he was only doing what he thought was right for us."

"How do you figure that? Jason, you just saw what happened. How could that possibly have been right for us?"

"Maybe in his own twisted mind, it was."

"Maybe." Chloe sat down on the floor. "How come you never told me about Stuart, Jason?"

"...I wanted to, Chloe, but Stuart thought you had enough on your mind at the time. He was going to wait until the right time, but..."

"You died." Chloe glanced back at the mirror. "Was that everything?"

"No. We still have more to go."

2424242424

"What do you mean, he won't take the case?" Jack barked into the phone.

"He won't take the case" the sharp voice of Dr. Cuddy repeated.

"And why is that?"

"He said there was no case. It's Dr. House's call, not mine."

"Jack, give me the phone." Tyler snatched the phone from Jack before he could protest. "Dr. Cuddy? My name's Tyler Anderson. I'm the patient's sister."

"I'm sorry, Ms. Anderson. The answer is no."

Tyler scowled. _Figures. Time for Plan B. _"Dr. Cuddy, have you ever heard of Anderson Enterprises?"

"Who hasn't?"

"Right now, you're speaking to the CEO and chairperson of that corporation."

"Are you trying to intimidate me?" Cuddy replied sharply.

"No. What I am going to do, is make you an offer."

"What offer?"

"Anderson Enterprises is prepared to make a donation to your hospital in the amount of 5 million dollars. In exchange, you figure out what's wrong with my sister."

"...Fine. I'll make it happen."

"Good." Tyler handed the phone back to Jack. "Let's get ready to leave."

"Thanks, Tyler." Jack watched her leave, then turned back to Chloe, rubbing her slightly chilly hands. "Just hang in there, sweetheart. Please. We need you back. I need you back."


	33. No case

Chapter 33

"Take the case."

"There's no case here" the clearly irritated Dr. House replied, tossing the folder containing Chloe's information on Cuddy's desk.

"Right" Cuddy snapped. "An apparently healthy 43 year old woman starts mysteriously coughing up blood, then lapses into a coma, and you're telling me there's no case."

"Yes!" House looked at her curiously. "You were perfectly willing to let this go an hour ago. What changed?"

"Nothing changed. I just think you should take this case."

"How much did they offer to pay you?"

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "You think this is about money?"

"I know it's about money. That's the only reason you're pressing me to take this non-case. How much?"

"...5 million dollars."

"Forget it. They pay that much, any hospital in LA could take care of this. I'm not interested."

Cuddy moved to block House from leaving. "Okay, fine. Then you can go to the board of directors, and you can explain why you turned down a case that cost this hospital a 5 million dollar donation, from the CEO of a multi-national corporation worth more than Microsoft, for no apparent reason."

"Now there's a dilemma- waste my time on a bogus case to line the pockets of a greedy band of idiots, or say no, save time, and deprive said idiots of a payday. Let me think about that for a minute... no."

"You're taking the case."

"I'm not taking the case." House stepped around Cuddy and began to leave.

"No clinic duty for the next two weeks."

House stopped in his tracks, and turned around. "Four weeks."

"Three. Final offer."

"Fine. I'll take the case."

2424242424

"What is taking them so long?" Jack grumbled as he paced Chloe's room, waiting for Dr. House to show up. He had been skeptical when Dr. Ericsson had recommended a physician so far away, but his first concern was helping Chloe, so he agreed to take her to see him.

"Jack, calm down" Tyler barked out. "You know freaking out is not going to do any good."

Jack glared at her, but his reply was silenced by a young brunette walking in. He stared at her in confusion. "Who are you? Where's Dr. House?"

"I'm Dr. Cameron. I work for Dr. House."

"Have you figured out what's wrong with Chloe?" Jack asked.

"Not yet" Cameron admitted. "But we will. If anyone can figure this out, it's Dr. House."

Tyler leaned back on the wall. "What do you think is wrong with her? What could cause her to be fine one minute, then suddenly start coughing up blood?"

"We really don't know anything for sure yet." Cameron began to draw blood from Chloe's arm. "But we're going to do everything we can for her." Her eyes flicked back to Jack. "Do you know anything that might help us? If she had any complaints, or anything like that?"

Jack frowned. "She said she was feeling tired yesterday, and some headaches, but that's it. Does that help?"

"It could." Cameron gathered up the vials of blood she had taken, then walked out quickly. Once she was gone, Jack sat back down next to Chloe, taking her hand in his. "Come on, Chloe. I know you're in there. Come back to us."

2424242424

Jack was jerked out of a light slumber by the banging of a stick on a metal surface. He turned to see a man standing in the doorway, a black cane in his hand. "As much as I hate to disturb this cliche 'husband falls asleep keeping vigil over sick wife' moment-"

"What the hell is this?" Jack growled. He saw Cameron standing behind the man, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Dr. Cameron, what the hell is going on? Who is this?"

"This is Dr. House" she replied.

Jack glared at him furiously. House merely limped over to Chloe, ignoring Jack for the moment. "It seems I was wrong when I said there was no case."

"So what are you doing about it?"

"Nothing, until we can figure out what is killing her." House took a long look at Chloe, his eyes falling on the scars on her arms. "How does a 43- year old freelancer get scars like that? Car accident? Overzealous one night stand?"

Tyler, who had walked in a few seconds before, quickly moved to restrain a very furious Jack. "Jack, don't." She glared furiously at House. "Is there a point to your insulting my sister and antagonizing my brother-in-law? Because I won't be able to hold him back much longer."

"Of course there's a point" House replied. He tossed a file at Jack. "Explain to me why there are gaps in her medical file."

Tyler let go of Jack and handed the file to him. He picked it up, noting the section House was referring to. _That's when she was in Utah._ "It's classified" he said gruffly.

"You might want to make it unclassified. Unless you want to see your wife die."

Jack scowled. "...This information doesn't leave this room. Do you understand me?" Both House and Cameron nodded. "That section covers a period of 2 years where... Chloe was missing. She was being held hostage in a bunker in Utah. The man who did that to her" he gestured at the scars on Chloe's arms, "is dead. He's the only one who could tell you exactly what he did to her."

"So why is this classified? It sounds to me like the perfect sob story the networks drool over- woman disappears for two years, turns up a hostage a few hundred miles away-"

"I can't tell you anything else" Jack barked furiously. "Now I meant what I said- everything I just told you is classified. I could go to prison for revealing it to an unauthorized person. Don't ask me anything else."

House looked at him curiously, then glanced down at Chloe briefly before looking at Cameron. "Start her on steroids immediately."

2424242424

"Dr. Chase" Jack called out to him as he was leaving Chloe's room. "How's Chloe?"

"Stable. Her blood pressure's back to normal, and there don't appear to be any signs of damage."

_Thank god._ "So what's the next step?"

"Back to the drawing board... literally" Chase remarked. "You can go in and see her now."

"Thank you." Jack walked into Chloe's room, sitting down next to her. "Chloe... where are you? Why haven't you come back to us?"

"She'll come back when she's ready to, Jack." Jack looked up in surprise. Reilly quickly joined him next to Chloe. "I sent Tyler back to the hotel to get some rest. You should do the same."

"I can't, Stuart. After what happened a few minutes ago, I can't leave Chloe."

"Look, Jack- I know how much you want to be here when she wakes up. I understand that. But she needs you to be strong for her, and how can you do that when you won't take care of yourself?"

"I'm fine" Jack growled.

"I don't think you are" Reilly replied. "You haven't left her side in almost 3 days. Do me a favor- go back to the hotel, clean up, and get some rest. If anything happens, I will call you immmediately."

Maybe he's right. "...Fine. But you make sure to call me the second something happens."

"I will."

"All right. I'll leave in a few minutes." Jack turned back to Chloe. "Why does this bad stuff always have to happen to her, Stuart? She didn't deserve any of it."

"Bad stuff happens to everyone, Jack" Reilly said. "You should know that better than anyone."

"But she's had more bad luck than anyone else I know." He put his head down. "Sometimes I think she'd be better off if I never came into her life. She's been through so much pain, because of me."

"That's not fair. Not to her, or to you." Reilly kept his eyes firmly on Chloe. "What about the 2 years she spent in Utah? If it hadn't been for you looking for her, Chloe would have died there."

"She only ended up being kidnapped because David Burke used me to get to her. So it was my fault."

"Burke would have found another way to get to her. But that's not the point. Think about everything you and Chloe have done together, all the times your efforts have stopped terrorists from hurting this country. How many lives were saved thanks to you two?"

Jack didn't respond, and Reilly put his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Jack, could you give her up? Could you honestly imagine your life without Chloe? Sure, Chloe wouldn't have been through all the bad stuff if you'd never met her, but what about the good? What about your friends? Your children? If you and Chloe never met, they'd never exist in your life."

Jack felt his heart sink at the thought of never knowing his children. Reilly stood up. "Chloe's been through hell more than once. But believe me when I tell you that she's never been happier in her life than she is now. Would you deny her that happiness?"

"...No." Jack half smiled. "Thank you, Stuart."

"You're welcome. Now go on and get out of here."

2424242424

Tyler looked up as Cameron came in._More tests? What else are they going to do to Chloe? Maybe it was a mistake to bring her here. She's almost died 4 times since we got here. They're not helping her, they're killing her._ "So? What insane test do you have for her now? How else are you going to risk her life?"

"What are you talking about?" Cameron asked.

"Do you even have a clue what you're doing? My sister's not getting better, she's only getting worse. We brought her here so she could get well, but you people are killing her."

"We've just figured it out" Cameron replied.

Tyler sat down quickly as Cameron's words sunk in. "...So what is it?"

Cameron was about to reply, but stopped as Jack walked in, taking in the scene. "What's going on?"

"They know what's wrong with Chloe."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes we are." Cameron stared Tyler down. "She's suffering from tularemia. It's usually caused by exposure to infected animals. You're lucky you brought her here so quickly. A couple more days, and it would have killed her."

"Is it... treatable?" Jack asked quietly.

"Yes, it is. We'll give her antibiotics for it, and she should be okay in a few days."

"Thank you." Jack sank down in relief. "Is that why she's in a coma right now?"

"No. That would be the incompetence of Dr. Ericsson." Jack turned to the doorway, where House was standing. Cameron hastily left, and he took her spot. "If he hadn't have induced the coma, we might have been able to figure this out sooner."

"Why didn't you take Chloe out of the coma then?"

"Because it would have killed her" House said. "Now the only question is, why was the coma induced in the first place? Answer- to prevent certain secrets from coming out. According to Dr. Ericsson's report, your wife was delirious. She would have eventually revealed something she shouldn't have. That's why he did it."

Jack stood up quickly. "You listen to me. My wife would never do that. She couldn't, not even to save her own life. Now get out."

House merely turned around and began to walk out. He stopped right before the doors. "We'll be able to bring her back in a couple days, if the antibiotics do their job." He walked out, and Jack sat back down.

"What a jerk" Tyler remarked.

"He is a jerk. But he did figure it out." Jack leaned over and kissed Chloe on the cheek. "Did you hear that, Chloe? You're going to get better. Just a little longer."


	34. Make things right

Chapter 34

Silence had settled on the NICU as the hour grew late, disrupted occasionally by the beeping of machines and the sounds of the nurses on duty as they kept an eye on their fragile charges. The only visitor at the moment stood outside the door, his eyes fixed on his 2 day old daughter as she fought to live.

"Julius." The man in question looked over his shoulder, a half smile coming to his face. "Hey, Stuart."

"Hey." Reilly handed him a cup of coffee. "I brought you something to drink. You looked like you needed it."

"Thank you." Julius sipped the lukewarm drink, turning back to watch his child.

"You know, you really should go home for a while, Julius. You've been here almost 3 days."

Julius shook his head. "I can't. Not until Chloe is ready to come home. Until then, I'm going to be here for her."

Reilly touched his friend's shoulder. "And what about you? That child needs you to be strong for her, and you can't do that if you don't take care of yourself as well, my friend."

"What if something happens to her while I'm gone, Stuart? Tyler almost died last year because I took my eye off her for a second. Karen would never forgive me if the same thing happened to Chloe."

"Nothing's going to happen." Reilly looked in on the now sleeping Chloe. "She's beautiful, Julius. She looks just like you."

"Thank you." Julius sighed ruefully. "Hopefully she got her mother's personality, not mine."

"Hmm. She's determined, that's for sure. Like someone I know very well."

Julius turned on Reilly. "Are you saying I'm stubborn?"

"No, I never said that. But Chloe isn't giving up. She's fighting to live. And she will live. Just have faith, Julius."

"I hope you're right, Stuart. I really do." Julius looked down briefly. "Stuart? I need to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"I want you to promise me that if my children are ever in trouble, and I can't help them, you'll do whatever you have to to keep them safe."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Stuart, please. Promise me. I know this is big, but I know you care about my children. And I trust you."

Reilly nodded. "Okay. I promise."

"Thank you."

Reilly gave him one more pat on the back. "I'll give you a few more minutes, then I'll take over, and you go home and get some rest."

"All right" Julius grudgingly agreed. Once Reilly had left, he turned to Chloe. "I know you can't hear me, Chloe, but... I want you to know that I love you. Don't give up. You are going to beat this thing."

2424242424

"Julius, we need to talk." Julius looked up to see his wife standing outside his study, her hands on her hips.

"Can't this wait, Karen? I've got work to do."

"You've always got work to do. You're always busy. You never have time for me or the kids anymore."

Julius rolled his eyes. "Here we go again."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"You don't understand, Karen. I am running a company here- a company that's about to go public."

"And I should care... why?"

"You should care because if this goes well, our family will be set for life. I will be able to give Jason, Tyler, and Chloe the opportunities to be successful that we didn't have. That is what I've been working for the last 4 years."

"Do you think those kids care about any of that?" Karen retorted. "All they know is that their father is never around."

Julius looked down. "I know. Believe me, Karen, I'd love to spend time with them. But I can't, not until this deal goes through. Once it does, then I promise to cut back on work."

"Don't make promises you won't keep, Julius. I know you." She glared. "And those few times you're not working?"

Julius glared back. "So I like to go out and have a couple drinks with Stuart. We rarely get the chance to see each other anymore. What's the big deal?"

"I don't like him."

"He's my best friend, Karen. I've known him my entire life. He's been there for me when no one else was."

"He works for the government. You hate the government, Julius."

"No, he doesn't. He works for an energy consortium."

"That's not what he told Jason." Julius looked at her in surprise. "That's right. I heard them talking one day. He told Jason that he was going to work for the government, but not to tell you, because you'd flip out."

Julius sat down, staring out into space. "He lied to me? All this time, he's been lying to me?"

"Look, Julius, I love you. But I want you to be here for your family."

Julius was about to reply, but the doorbell rang, and he got up to answer it. Reilly was standing outside. "Hey, Julius. You ready?"

"Stuart, we need to talk. Inside."

"Okay." Reilly stepped inside. "What's going on?"

Julius shut the door. "Have you been lying to me?"

Reilly looked confused. "About what?"

"About your work. Karen told me you told Jason you were working for the government. Is that true?"

"...I can't talk about it."

"So it is true" Julius said harshly. "You've been lying to me for years."

"...Yes. I wanted to tell you, Julius, but I really can't talk about it."

"Damn it, Stuart, you know how I feel about the government. And I thought you felt the same way."

"I did- once" Reilly replied. "But not anymore."

"I see." Julius sat down. "I'm sorry, Stuart, but I can't be friends with someone that works for a corrupt, godless entity like the government. I have to protect my family."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Julius, but I know what I'm doing is right. I can't just leave."

"Then you've left me no choice." Julius stood back up and opened the door. "Get out. I don't ever want to see you again."

"What?"

"You heard me. Get out. And stay away from my family."

"Julius, don't do this. Don't throw our friendship away."

"You threw it away when you lied to me, Stuart. Now leave, or I'm calling the police."

"...Fine." Reilly walked out and Julius slammed the door behind him. He glanced back at his wife, who had witnessed the entire exchange. "Was that everything you wanted to talk about?"

"No. I got a call from the Academy today. Chloe got into another fight."

"Again? This is the 7th time in 3 months."

"I know. She's been suspended for a week." Karen frowned. "What are we going to do with her, Julius? We can't just let this go unpunished. Chloe's got to learn to respect others, and not just lash out every time she gets angry at someone."

Julius looked determined. "And she will. By the time we're through with her, she'll know respect- even if I have to beat it into her. No child of mine is going to act like this."

2424242424

"What's on the agenda for tomorrow, Daria?" Julius asked his assistant.

"You have an 8 AM with Jeff Roberts, then the presentation to the board at 3."

"All right. Schedule a lunch meeting with Dave Grey. We need to go over his proposal for expanding our Midwest operations. Once that's done, go home."

"Yes, sir. Oh, I almost forgot. Your wife called. She's not going to be back from Boston until Thursday. She wants you to call her as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Daria." Julius disconnected the call, then dialed his wife's number. "Hello?"

"Hey, honey, it's me."

"Julius. Did Daria tell you I called?"

"Yes, she did. What's going on in Boston?"

Karen growled. "You know that consortium that's been trying to muscle us out over here?"

"I thought we took care of them."

"So did I. But apparently we didn't finish the job. Julius, these guys are serious. And apparently they've got backers with deep pockets." She paused. "What's the game plan?"

"Find out what you can about their payroll. Once you find something out, then we'll go from there. Until then, keep them out."

"I will. Listen, Julius... I ran into Chloe when I was in DC the other day."

"I told you not to mention that harlot's name!" Julius hollered.

"Julius... please. It's been 6 years since you've seen her. Don't you think it's time you two settled things?"

"No. Karen, I spent years working to give that harlot a future, and she threw it away for a one-night stand with some loser she barely knew. And what about when Jason was dying? We couldn't even see him because she was there all the time. No, no, uh-uh. I'll never forgive her for that. And Tyler wasn't much better. She got Jason killed, then she ran off like a coward to risk her life for total strangers. No, I can't trust this company with them."

"And what happens to this company once we're gone? We agreed to keep it in the family."

Julius scoffed. "What family? The only one of those kids that ended up being worth a damn, that wasn't a disappointment, is gone." He glanced over at the picture of Jason on his desk. "This discussion is over, Karen. You are all the family I have left. Tyler and the harlot can rot, for all I care."

2424242424

"Mr. Anderson?"

"What is it, Daria?"

"Here are the notes on the briefing you asked for, and Mark Redfield called. He wants to reschedule your meeting with him for Friday afternoon."

"Friday's fine." Julius looked down.

"Mr. Anderson? Are you okay?"

"...No, not really." He sighed. "How long have you been with this company, Daria?"

"Since we went public, so... almost 20 years, sir."

"Are you happy here?"

"Yes, sir. I am... Mr. Anderson, what's going on?"

"Why'd you stay so long? You're highly qualified. I'm sure you've gotten offers from other companies. Why would you stick around and put up with me?"

"Because unlike other bosses I've worked for, you actually listen to me. And you pay me very well. Besides, I happen to like working for this company. Why would I want to leave?"

Julius ran his fingers through his hair. "Because everyone else has. Daria, I've driven everyone that I've ever cared about away from me. My wife and I are divorced, my son is dead, and both my daughters despise me. Not that I blame them. I was a horrible father. The way I treated those girls..." He scoffed. "I called my youngest child a harlot, a slut, so many awful names, simply because she made a mistake. She came to me for help, and all I did was turn my back on her. I drove her away, drove them both away. I want to make things right with them, but I don't know how."

She merely dropped the folders she was carrying on his desk. "Mr. Anderson, I'm the last person to be giving you advice, but... if you really feel strongly about it, then reach out to them. If you're afraid to talk to them, then write a letter. Try to make things right. It might not pay off the way you want it to, but you can at least try."

"I will. Thank you." He switched off his phone. "Can you make sure I'm not disturbed for a while?"

She nodded and left, and Julius reached into his desk, pulling out his notebook. He sighed loudly, then began to write. Half an hour passed, but Julius didn't notice the passing of time as he continued to write. He finally set down his pen and read over what he had written.

_Chloe,_

_I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear from. If you don't want to read this, I understand. After how horribly I treated you all those years, you have every right to hate me. But please hear me out._

_All I wanted was what I thought was best for you and your brother and sister. But what I wanted was wrong. How could I possibly have known what was best? I was never around for you, my business interests always my first priority. I was so stupid. My obsession with building this company cost me everything and everyone I ever cared about- especially you. Chloe, you were the reason I started this company up in the first place. I didn't want you to struggle the way your mother and I did. I realize now what I should have done- be there for you, encourage you to do what you wanted with your life._

_I still remember the day you came home and told me you were pregnant. You reached out to me for help, and I... I hurt you, not just physically, but emotionally as well. The things I said to you were unforgivable. I'm so sorry, Chloe. I know nothing I can say or do will ever take that pain away, or excuse what I've done to you, because there is no excuse. If you only knew how much I regret the things I've done to you._

_I've heard you're working for the government, helping to keep this country safe. If that's true, then I'm proud of you. You're going your own way, doing what you want to do with your life._

_I'm not going to ask you to forgive me, Chloe, because what I've done to you is unforgivable. But I want you to know that I love you, daughter. I always will._

_Love,_

_Dad_

_P.S.- I've also heard from your mother that you and Tyler have not spoken to each other since your brother was killed. Chloe, don't make the same mistakes I have. I would like you to settle your differences with your sister. You two might hate each other, but you're family, and there's nothing more important than family._

Julius brushed back tears he hadn't felt coming. "That was hard. But it was important." He reached over and switched his phone back on. "Daria?"

"Yes, Mr. Anderson?"

"I need you to book a flight to Sacramento for next week."

"I'll take care of it, sir." She paused. "Why are you going there, sir? Is there pressing business up there?"

"It's not business... it's personal. Also, see if you can find out where my daughter Chloe is living. I need to see her once my business in Sacramento is done."

"Yes, sir. Was there anything else you needed from me?"

"No, there's nothing else. Thank you." He disconnected the call. "I swear to you, Chloe, Karen... I'll make things right."

2424242424

Chloe watched as the images faded, looking over at the stoic Jason in shock. "I don't know what to say. He really did care about me, about us."

"Yes, he did." Jason frowned as Chloe looked away. "Chloe, what's wrong?"

"I don't understand, Jason- why would ending his friendship with Stuart cause him to get so mad at us? I could see that they were close, but he just snapped. It doesn't make any sense."

"You have to understand, Chloe- Dad and Stuart were friends their entire lives. Dad had a lot of anger growing up, because his parents were horrible to him, but Stuart was always there for him. He kept that anger in check. When Stuart left, Dad couldn't control his anger. He couldn't take it out on Mom, so he took it out on us instead." Jason looked up. "Our time here is almost up. You have to go back."

"Now? But I still have things I want to ask you."

"I know. And you'll find those answers in time. But for now... go back. Live your life."

Chloe stood up, giving her brother one more embrace. "I love you, Jason."

"I love you too, sis. And we'll see each other again one day. Just do me one favor."

"Anything."

"Tell Tyler I don't blame her for what happened. It was just meant to be, and she should stop blaming herself for my death."

Chloe sniffed. "I will. I promise."


	35. No trouble

Chapter 35

Chloe slowly opened her eyes, groaning as she tried to move.

"Chloe. You're awake."

Chloe blinked a few times, unsure if she really was back. "Jack?"

"Yeah."

She started to sit up, but Jack held her down. "Don't you dare try to get up" he said sternly. "You need to rest."

She looked around, her gaze narrowing as she saw snow outside. "Where are we?"

"Princeton, New Jersey."

"New Jersey? Why?"

"Because you were seriously sick, Chloe." Tyler replied. "They couldn't figure out what was wrong with you in LA, so we brought you here. The doctor who treated you is some kind of expert diagnostician. He figured it out."

"Okay." Chloe was confused. "So... what was wrong with me?"

"You have something known as tularemia. They said it was caused by infected animals. Chloe, it could have killed you."

"But... that's impossible. I haven't been around any... wait a minute." She looked at Jack in horror. "That trip to the zoo we took a couple weeks ago. That's the only time in the last year I've been around any animals." Chloe felt her heart beating rapidly. "What about you? Are you okay? What about the kids?"

"Chloe, Chloe, calm down" Jack said gently. "The kids are fine. I'm fine. Chase or Mike would have called us if something happened to them."

"...Okay." Chloe put her head back. "So, this thing they said I had, is it curable? Am I going to die?"

"No" Jack told her. "We were able to catch it in time. You're going to be fine, Chloe."

"Thank god." Chloe sighed. "You're not going to believe what just happened to me."

"What are you talking about?" Tyler asked curiously. "Chloe, you've been in a coma for the last week. How could anything happen to you?" _Other than almost dying 4 or 5 times. Better not tell her about that yet._

"It's not that" Chloe replied shortly, giving Tyler a glare. "When I was still in LA, the last thing I remember was... that hospital room... Dr. Ericsson saying something about... something, I don't remember what. The next thing I know, I'm somewhere else. Some kind of... paradise, I guess."

"Did you... die?" Jack asked hesitantly.

Chloe turned her glare on Jack. "If I died, I wouldn't be here now." She shut up as Jack looked away. "I'm sorry, Jack. I-"

"No, sweetheart. It's all right. Go on."

"I thought I _was_ dead at first. Then I heard someone call my name. I looked up, and... Jason was standing there."

"Jason? Your brother?" Jack was confused. "But... you told me he was dead. How could you-"

"I don't know, Jack. All I know is, it was Jason. He said that he had been sent to me, that he could answer questions I had... about my father."

"What kind of questions?" Tyler asked.

"We had always believed he didn't care about us. When Stuart came into our lives, what he told me about Dad didn't make any sense. But Jason showed me everything, Tyler. Dad loved us, but he had so much anger. Without Stuart around, Dad took that anger out on us. It was something he regretted later. I saw it all."

"Maybe." Tyler sounded skeptical.

Chloe shook her head. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"I don't know, Chloe. It's a little hard to believe." Tyler glanced over at Jack, who stared back at her. "Did... did he say anything about me?"

"Yeah, he did. Jason told me that- that you still blame yourself for what happened to him. You think it's your fault that he's gone."

"Isn't it?" Tyler shot back. "I got him killed. I distracted him for just a second, and we got hit. The accident was my fault."

"Jason doesn't see it that way. He said that it was just meant to be, and you should stop blaming yourself."

"He did?"

"Yes. He's right. The scumbag that hit you is to blame, not you."

Tyler ducked her head. "I wish it were that easy, Chloe." She stood up. "Look, I'm going to go track down that insane doctor and find out when you can leave. You two probably have a lot to talk about anyway." She hurriedly walked out, and Chloe shook her head. "I don't think she believes me."

"I do" Jack told her.

"Do you really?"

"Of course I do. I know you wouldn't lie about something like that, especially not to us."

Chloe nodded, then frowned. "What did Tyler mean by 'insane doctor'?"

Jack scowled. "The doctor who found out what was wrong with you, his methods are... unusual."

Chloe returned his scowl. "Come on, Jack. He can't be that bad."

"Yes, he can. Chloe, you almost died more than once because they couldn't figure out what was killing you."

"What?"

"Yeah." Jack looked away. "But that doesn't matter anymore. You're alive, Chloe. And you're going to be fine. That's what I care about." He grabbed her hand, rubbing it softly. Chloe felt her irritation fade away at his touch, and she lay back, quickly falling back asleep.

2424242424

"What the hell is this?" Tyler hollered as she and Jack fought through a wave of reporters on their way into the airport, a handful of police right behind them trying to keep the crowd at bay. She glared back at Reilly. "Stuart, did you tell anyone when we were leaving?"

"No, of course not" he replied, ducking the swinging arm of a cameraman.

"Ms. Anderson, Ms. Anderson!" Tyler turned to glare at the reporter who called out to her. "Just a couple questions!"

Tyler shook her head. "If you have any questions, contact our press office." She caught one of the reporters trying to get close to Chloe, and she stepped in. "Look, I said no questions! Leave my family alone!" Grabbing Chloe's chair, she signaled to the officers, who forced the mob back. Once they were clear, and safely through the main terminal, Tyler let go. "When we get back to LA, I'm going to kill whatever idiot told them" she snapped.

"Tyler, they were just doing their job. Let it go" Jack told her. He looked down at Chloe. "Sweetheart, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just want to go home, Jack."

"I know you do. So do I. Let's go." Jack turned to Reilly. "Thanks for everything, Stuart."

"No problem. I just wish I could have seen you guys under better circumstances."

"Tell me about it. It always seems like there's trouble when you show up."

Reilly gave Jack a mock glare, then smiled. "Look, I'll be in LA in a couple of months. I'll see you then."

Chloe, Jack, and Tyler said their goodbyes, then headed towards the concourse to wait for their departure. Chloe followed Jack's lead in silence, her mind a long way away. _Jason, you said that the dead can hear the thoughts of the living. If you can hear me now, thank you. Once again, you helped me when I needed your help._

2424242424

"Attention, passengers. We are beginning final approach to LAX. We will be landing in approximately 10 minutes. At this time we would like you to return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts."

Chloe leaned back in her seat, grinning as she felt Jack slip his arms around her. "Now this is flying" she remarked, looking over at her sister. "Why didn't you tell us you had access to a private plane, Tyler?"

"Don't get too used to it" Tyler warned. "If I used this thing every time I wanted to go somewhere, the board would rake me over the coals. Not that they're not going to have a fit about this trip anyway. It wasn't 'official company business'." She rolled her eyes at those last 3 words.

"Then why would you-"

"Because you're worth it, Chloe. Seeing you healthy and happy is worth all the aggravation in the world. I can deal with whatever those stiff old bastards can dish out."

Chloe shrugged. "All right. If you say so." She turned to stare out the window as the ground slowly approached. Once the plane had landed, she allowed Jack to lead her out the door and down the boarding ramp, quickly passing through security. Tyler took the lead, keeping her eyes open for any more trouble. "I knew that press conference was a bad idea. Look at this. We have to sneak out of here like common criminals. That's the last time I listen to those idiots." She took a quick look around. "It's clear. Let's go home."

2424242424

Tyler shifted in her seat as she stared out the window, frowning as their vehicle passed their exit. "Jack, what are you doing? You just passed the turnoff."

"We're being followed" he told her.

"What? How long?"

"Ever since we left the airport."

"Are you sure? This isn't exactly a slow road, even at night."

Jack glared at her. "I am positive. Someone is following us."

"So how do we lose them?" Chloe asked.

"We don't. I'm going to find out who it is. Hang on." He glanced over to the side, then quickly swerved into the next lane, turning off at the next exit. He saw one of the cars behind him turn off as well, keeping a safe distance away. _There you are._ Powering through the upcoming intersection, he turned onto a side street, eventually reaching a dead end.

"What's the plan, Jack?"

Jack pulled his weapon out. "You two stay here. If things go bad, get out of here." He slipped out of the van, ducking behind a nearby trash can. He watched as the car that had been following them stopped a few feet away, the driver getting out. Jack snuck up behind him, tackling him to the ground. "Don't move!"

"Take it easy, Jack" the man choked out.

_I don't believe it._ Jack pulled him up, stepping back in surprise. "Connor?"

Connor grabbed his arm, wincing as he moved it. "It's nice to see you too, Jack, but did you have to tackle me so hard?"

Jack shook his head. "What the hell were you doing? Why were you following us?"

"I was at the airport when I saw you leaving. I tried to catch up, but you had already left. So I followed you."

"Why were you at the airport?"

"I just got back from Europe. I was going to call Mom when I landed. But then I saw you."

Jack holstered his weapon. "Come on." He led Connor towards the van, opening the side door. "Chloe, it's all right. Come on out. Someone wants to see you."

Chloe emerged from the van, staring at her son in disbelief. "Oh my god. Connor?" She rubbed her eyes. "I'm not dreaming again, am I?"

"No, not unless we're all having the same dream" he replied, walking over to Chloe and embracing her. "I missed you, mom."

"I missed you, too, son. I missed you so much."

Tyler cleared her throat. "As much as I hate to spoil this happy reunion, maybe we should get going. This place gives me the creeps."

Chloe reluctantly broke away from Connor. "I hate to admit it, but she's right. Let's get out of here."

2424242424

"All right, you guys" Jack called out to the mass of 6 year olds attacking their older brother. "It is way past your bedtime."

"Do we have to, Dad?" Edgar whined.

"Yes, you do. Now go to bed."

The triplets turned towards Connor, who shook his head. "Sorry, buckaroos, but your dad's right. We'll spend some time together tomorrow, okay? Go on." He watched them run upstairs, then sat down next to Chloe. "I missed them."

"They missed you. All they did for a month after you left was mope around the house."

"Right." He turned to Jack. "Hey, Jack, could you excuse us for a few minutes? I need to talk to Mom alone."

"All right. If you need anything, just let me know."

"Connor, what's going on?" Chloe asked once Jack had left. "Why didn't you ever contact me, let me know you were okay?"

"I couldn't. I needed to do this on my own. I was searching for answers, ones I couldn't find here. A friend of mine told me he had gone to Europe when his parents died, and maybe I could find what I was looking for there. As soon as I landed in France, I just started walking, with no idea where I was going. That didn't last long, though. About a month after I got there, I was camping in the woods outside Ghent when I was mugged. The man who did it took everything I had but the clothes on my back and left me for dead."

"I thought for sure I was going to die there. But I got lucky. There was a monastery nearby. One of the monks found me and took me there. They had nothing, but they took me in, and helped me recover. It didn't hurt that the place was out in the middle of nowhere. Without the distractions of the outside world, I was able to focus on why I had come to Europe in the first place. The monks spent hours just listening to me every day while I poured out my soul to them. They helped me get past the pain I was feeling, and made me feel... free. I know it'll never go away, but now I can live with it."

"My only problem was figuring out how I was going to get home. I had no money, I was out in the middle of nowhere. Then about 2 months ago, the monastery got another visitor. It was the man who had mugged me 2 years ago. He had been hurt, even worse than I had been. Once he had recovered enough to talk, he told me he had been looking for me. He said he regretted what he had done, and he wanted to give back what he had taken from me, or what was left of it. It was just enough to get me home, with a few bucks to spare. And here I am. I'm home for good this time."

_He's hiding something from me. I can tell. But I just got him back. I'm not going to press him for an answer he's not ready to give me._ "Well, I'm glad you're back, Connor, and that you found what you were looking for. I'm just sorry you had to go through that in the first place."

"I know." Connor stood up. "Look, I'll see you in the morning. There's a hotel a few miles away. I'll get a room for the night."

"I don't think so" Chloe replied. "You are not going to stay in some cheap hotel while I stay up and worry about you all night. You are going to stay here until you find a place to live."

"I don't want to impose, Mom."

Chloe shot him one of her trademark looks. "Connor, we have plenty of space here. Besides, there are 3 kids upstairs who would love their big brother to stay for a while. Believe me, it wouldn't be any trouble."

"But-"

"Good, then it's settled. I'll have Jack bring your stuff in. Go get some sleep. We'll have plenty of time to talk in the morning."


	36. Secrets revealed

Chapter 36

"Are you still mad at me?"

Chloe shot a glare at Jack, then turned away from him in disgust.

"Chloe, sweetheart-"

"Don't you 'sweetheart' me, you jerk!" she snapped. "You are not going to sweet-talk your way out of trouble this time."

"I'm sorry, Chloe."

"You're sorry? You made me look bad in front of our children, and all you can say is 'I'm sorry'?" She sat up hastily. "I thought we were supposed to be equals in this whole parenting thing, Jack."

"We are."

"Are we? Well, that's not the message you're sending to your son. When I punish Edgar for breaking the rules, and you go behind my back and let him off the hook every time, you're telling him that he can do whatever he wants, and you'll bail him out every time."

Jack looked away. "It was just a harmless prank, Chloe. Edgar is an 11-year old boy. They get rough, they play pranks."

"Edgar should know better. When I was his age, I didn't act like that. You have got to be tougher on him when he breaks the rules."

"How? By beating him? Like your father did to you?"

Chloe looked hurt at his words, and Jack knew he had gone too far. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"No, you shouldn't have" she replied, tears forming in her eyes.

Jack sat down next to her, taking her hands in his. "Chloe, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did. But we promised each other that we would never go to bed angry at each other. I don't want tonight to be the first time we do. I promise, from now on, I won't go behind your back like that. Okay?"

"...All right."

He smiled. "Thank you." He leaned in for a kiss, but Chloe turned away. "Not tonight."

Jack stared at her for a minute, opening his mouth to protest, but was cut off by his phone ringing. "Hello?"

"Jack, it's Tyler. Is Chloe there?"

"Yeah, she is. Do you want to talk to her?"

"I need to talk to you both. Put me on speaker."

He shut the door to the bedroom, then pressed the speaker button. "Okay, you're on speaker. What's going on?"

"I need you two to come by the office tomorrow morning. There's something I have to talk to you about."

"Why can't you just tell us now?" Tyler was silent. "Tyler, what is going on here? What is so important that you need to see us for?"

"It's about your father's company."

Jack was confused. "What about it? I assured you when Anderson Enterprises acquired BXJ that we wanted nothing to do with it. You want to tear it apart, go right ahead."

"Jack, I know. And I know you don't want any part of this. But that's not why I'm calling you. I found out about something. Something that involves you, Chloe."

"Me?" Chloe whispered. "What are you talking about?"

"I can't explain over the phone. That's why I need you to come down to the office tomorrow. There are some other things I need to discuss with you as well." Tyler leaned back. "Look, you know I wouldn't ask if it wasn't extremely important."

_I don't like this. Something is not right here._ "Okay. We'll be there tomorrow after we drop the kids off at school."

"Thank you."

Jack set his phone down next to him, rubbing his forehead wearily.

"What do you think she wants, Jack? What would BXJ have to do with me?"

"I have no idea. But whatever it is, it can't be good news."

Chloe scowled. "I hate when you say that." She yawned. "I'm tired. Good night, Jack."

"Good night, sweetheart." Jack kissed her cheek, then lay down, staring up at the ceiling. _Here we go again._

2424242424

"What is taking her so long?" Jack muttered, pacing around the conference room, staring at the door.

"Stop that, Jack. You're making me nervous. I'm sure Tyler wouldn't make us wait if she didn't have a choice. She might have gotten tied up with business." Chloe looked up as the door to the conference room opened, and Tyler walked in, followed by, to Chloe's surprise, Reilly and Bill.

"I'm sorry I made you guys wait" Tyler said apologetically. "The conference call with Delhi went long."

"No, it's fine, Tyler." Chloe glanced over at the two men. "What are you two doing here?"

"Bill was our government liasion for the BXJ deal. He's the one who found what I need to tell you about. And Stuart, well-"

"I was on my way back to New York when I got a phone call from one of my sources at DOJ. He gave me some bad news." Reilly sat down. "Chloe, Jack... Erin Driscoll's out of prison."

Jack shot a glance at Chloe. "It's been 10 years. Wasn't she supposed to be released by now?"

"Yes, but she's not just out of prison. She's totally free. No house arrest, no surveillance, nothing. For all intents and purposes, the government has no interest in her anymore."

Jack slammed his hand down. "Dammit, Stuart! How could you let this happen?"

"What was I supposed to do about it, Jack? Stop them? I don't work for the government anymore. I don't have the power to make that happen. Neither do you. Let her go."

"I don't want to let it go" Chloe interjected. "I can't, not after what she did to me, to my family. If we don't do anything, what's to stop her from coming after us again?"

"We are going to do something" Tyler replied. "If the government won't keep an eye on her, we will."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"I still have some friends from my time in the CIA. Not many, but a few. And I have the resources of the largest multinational corporation in the world at my fingertips. We'll use whatever we have to to makes sure she leaves you alone. She won't be able to do anything, legal or otherwise, without us knowing about it. She tries to make one move against you-"

"No." Jack shook his head. "I can't let you do that. Tyler, you've already done more than enough for us."

"This wasn't her call" Reilly told them. "I was the one who asked her to do this. After everything you two have done for this country... please, Jack, let us take care of Erin."

Jack turned to Chloe. "What do you think, Chloe?"

"I think we should go along with this. We're out of that line of work, Jack. I don't want to get sucked back into it. I don't want our children exposed to it." She grabbed his hand. "Please?"

He felt his resistance melt away under her pleading look. _I hope I don't regret this._ "Okay." He fixed Reilly with a hard look. "But this had better work."

"It will."

Jack merely nodded. "Tyler, you said last night that you needed to tell us something about my father's company, something that involved Chloe."

"That's right." Tyler booted up her laptop, cursing under her breath as the computer slowly loaded. "Stupid piece of junk." She sighed in relief as the documents finally loaded. "There we go." She looked up at Chloe hesitantly. "When Anderson Enterprises was first approached about acquiring BXJ last year, I didn't want to go along with it. It didn't look like a good deal for us. Why would we waste our money on a company that was being run into the ground? But the contracts they had with the government, as well as some interests in markets that we hadn't touched, was enough for the board to push for the deal."

"Now, you two should know me better than that. I've never made a business deal without thoroughly checking out what I'm getting into. Jack, you made it clear to me that you and Chloe wanted nothing to do with this deal, so I asked Bill to help me look into it. Most of what we found was legitimate business interests. One of their companies, however, wasn't." She turned the screen around. "Roland Financial Services."

"What about it?" Jack asked.

"The records for Roland show that they haven't done business in over 10 years. But according to BXJ, it hasn't been disbanded. I couldn't figure out why. There was no address for headquarters, or anything like that. But I dug deeper, and I found some GPS coordinates. Bill traced those coordinates to an abandoned industrial complex- 30 miles west of Provo, UT."

Chloe gasped, going pale. "That's... that's the-"

"The location of the bunker you were held captive in." Tyler took a deep breath. "I thought it was just a coincidence at first. I was wrong." She pointed to the screen. "The CEO of Roland, a man named Donald Brinkman. The only problem is, he doesn't exist. All the records on him are forgeries. Convincing forgeries, but forgeries, nonetheless. His real name is David Burke."

Jack felt his heart beating furiously as he tried to wrap his mind around what Tyler was saying. "You're telling me that the man who kidnapped my wife, who tortured her for two years, was working for BXJ the whole time?"

"Yes. And if you don't believe me, watch this." She pressed a few buttons on the keyboard, bringing up a video screen.

_"Hello, David."_ Jack clenched his fists with rage as the first figure turned around, revealing the calm visage of his brother.

_"Graem. I would say it's nice to see you, but I'd be lying."_

_"Are you still holding a grudge over that deal? If I'd known what a bad deal it was, I would have let you have it."_

_"No. That was business. No harm, no foul. Just because I despise you, doesn't mean we can't do business together. That's what you called me for, isn't it?"_

_"Yes, I did." Graem turned his back on Burke. "Your interrogation skills are the best in the world. I have need of that skill."_

_"Oh, really? Let me guess- one of your business deals has gone south, and you need someone to put a little pressure on."_

_"Oh, it's not a business deal." Graem held up a small device. "This is a prototype hard drive. The only one of its kind in the world. Apparently it will only open for the person who designed it. I want what's on this hard drive."_

_"So what do you need me for?" Burke asked. "Just ask whoever designed it to get in there for you."_

_Graem shook his head. "It's not that easy. The person we're talking about is a government agent named Chloe O'Brian. She's a patriot. She's not going to give up what's in there without a little persuasion. That's where you come in."_

_Burke grinned evilly, cracking his knuckles. "A government agent, eh? Very well. I'll get you what you need. I'll have this O'Brian broken for you by the end of the week."_

_Graem held up his hand. "No. I have other concerns to deal with right now. This country's under attack. The disappearance of a federal agent, combined with the theft of this hard drive, will make things much harder. I'll contact you when the time is right. Lay low until then."_

Tyler stopped the video feed. "That's it."

Jack didn't take his eyes off the blank screen, staring at it in disbelief. "That's not possible."

"I'm afraid it is, Jack. Your brother was the one who set everything up. There's more on there- phonecalls, emails, videos- you name it."

"No. I mean, that's not Burke. That's not the same man I killed."

"Yes, it is him." Jack looked over at Chloe, stunned at the look of hatred on her face. "That's the son of a bitch that did this to me."

"Are- are you sure?"

"Yes, I am" she replied. "You think I'd forget the bastard that put me through hell? That's him, all right."

_Son of a bitch._ "Where is he?"

Tyler looked down. "I don't know. No one does. Apparently, he disappeared after we rescued Chloe from that bunker."

Jack glanced back at the laptop. "How long have you known about this?"

"...A few weeks."

He stood up. "I need to talk to you alone, Tyler. Now."

"Why? If you have something to say, then say it-" She was cut off by Chloe moving away from the table, wheeling herself rapidly towards the door, tears running down her cheeks. Jack made a move to follow her, but Bill stopped him. "Let us handle this, Jack."

Jack nodded, then turned back to Tyler once they were alone. "What the hell were you thinking, Tyler?!"

"What?"

"Chloe spent years trying to get over what happened to her, and you just destroyed that!"

Tyler got up in his face. "Don't you dare blame me! She had a right to know about that! We were the ones who screwed up by killing the wrong man!"

"You should have left her out of this!"

"Chloe can take care of herself! Even after all this time, you still think you need to protect her! Well, you're wrong! After what that scumbag did to her, she can handle the truth!" She pointed to the laptop. "It's all on there, Jack! Everything she went through in that bunker! I saw it! I know I wouldn't have survived all that! And neither would you!" She shut down the machine. "I only waited until now to tell you because you had enough problems to deal with at that time. That and I wanted to make sure this was real."

Jack let his hand drift down to his weapon, fingering it lightly. Tyler shook her head. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to finish the job I started years ago."

She crossed her arms. "No, you're not."

He pulled his weapon out, pointing it at her. "Yes, I am. I let my guard down once before, and Chloe paid the price for it. Not this time. Don't get in my way, Tyler."

She pushed the gun out of her face. "Use your head, Jack. You have a family to think about. You've been out of the game too long. Besides, if he was going to go after Chloe again, he would have done it years ago. He's probably dead by now, or too busy running for his life to worry about you. Burke's not a threat to us anymore. Now put the gun away."

Jack shifted his grip on the weapon. _Maybe she's right. I'm over 60 years old. I can't do that job anymore. If Burke is still alive, and I went up against him, he'd probably beat me._ He stuck the gun back in its holster. "I hope you're right."

"So do I, Jack. For all our sakes."


End file.
